Gender balance gives singles nothing to complain about

ANY man who complains there are not enough women to choose from should think again — and Irish women who complain that they outnumber men have only a very small cause for grievance.

Official figures show that Ireland has the most gender balanced population in the EU. According to the Central Statistics Office (CSO), there were 101 women for every 100 men in this country last year.

In a Eurostat measure of 30 countries, only Iceland where there is one woman or girl for every male was more gender balanced.

But for those men who want greater choice, there are 117 women for every man in Latvia.

Single Irish women should take heart though, as they are outnumbered by men in the 21-64 age bracket.

The common notion of a gender imbalance in Irish society is dispelled in the CSO report, Women and Men in Ireland 2005.

But the report highlights the fact that women remain under-represented in senior civil service positions, with just one-third or fewer of the four highest service grade jobs held by female staff. However they represent more than two-thirds of clerical and staff officers.

In the wider employment sector, jobs in clerical, secretarial and sales are more likely to be filled by women, although there is an almost perfect gender balance in the professional categories.

The figures also show a rising number of women holding management and administrative positions, rising from around a quarter to almost one-third between 2000 and this year.

The health and education sectors employ almost 30% of all working women, in line with other EU countries, while one-in-six employed females aged over 15 works in the wholesale or retail trades.

A comparison of Irish school management figures shows that slightly more women are primary principals, but this does not reflect the fact that there are around four women for every man working in primary schools. At second level, where there is a slightly more balanced workforce, less than one-third of principals are female.

Pay for women also remains lower, with 2003 figures showing their average income is less than two-thirds of men's, while women's hourly earnings are just 85% of men's.

Women are also more at risk of poverty than men, although this is reversed when unemployed or retired members of both genders are compared.

Despite all these factors, men are more likely to die at a younger age, with their life expectancy at birth now five years less than the 80-year expectancy of Irish women. However, Irish men's life expectancy is slightly higher and Irish women's is slightly lower than the EU average.