Female labour-force participation in Germany is high by international standards and clearly above the EU average. At the same time the share of part-time employment among women is unusually high – with consequences for income, career trajectories and pensions. Structural hurdles include work-family balance, the tax system (joint taxation of spouses), childcare provision, cultural expectations and pay inequality.
The gender pay gap in Germany is around 18 percent (unadjusted) and roughly six percent adjusted. The gender pension gap is also marked – a follow-on effect of part-time work, employment gaps caused by care work and lower hourly pay in female-dominated professions such as nursing, early-childhood education and social work.
Policy responses include expanding childcare, reforming parental allowance, minimum quotas in supervisory boards and debates about taxation. Employers respond with flexible working time, mentoring and targeted return-to-work programmes.
Lunigi supports women particularly around return-to-work and switching with curated, family-friendly roles from collectively bargained sectors.