70% of mums in Luxembourg work

(JB) Nearly three quarters of mothers in Luxembourg are working in either full or part-time roles, a study has revealed.

According to the report by national statistics body STATEC, about 70% of the female population aged 20 to 49 who had dependent children were working.

This high proportion of working mothers, the report suggested, pushes up Luxembourg's employment rate beyond the EU average of 68.6% to 70.6%.

The study also showed that having a child under 15 dramatically affects the employment habits of women in Luxembourg. It suggested a difference of 20% between the proportion of mothers working part-time if they had a dependent child aged 15 or under compared with non-mothers in part-time work.

The study showed that 13.3% of women without dependent children worked part-time compared with 33.7% of women with one or more dependent children.

Men were less likely to work part-time if they had a child. Just 2.5% of men with dependent children were in part-time work compared with 1.5% of men who did not have children.

The STATEC study also gave an insight into the budgets of Luxembourg households and general living standards. It showed that the distribution of benefits to those on a low income or who were out of work dramatically reduced the risk of households falling into the poverty trap (those earning below 60% of the country's median income). The poverty rate in 2010 was 14.5%, compared with 14.9% in 2009 and 13.5% in 2007.