Diagnosis of the labor market in the Basque Country (II): Gender and Generational Gaps in Basque Employment

This study analyses the inclusion of the Basque labour market for two specific groups: young people and women. To this end, this document offers a specific diagnosis of the conditions of access and the quality of employment in the Basque Country for each group. The results show that the Basque Country presents substantial challenges in terms of inclusion for its young people and women. On the one hand, young Basques suffer from unemployment rates significantly higher than those observed in Europe and face high levels of job insecurity in the form of high levels of temporary and partial employment. These factors, together with the high cost of housing, place the Basque Country at the bottom of the European league in terms of youth emancipation. On the other hand, the gender pay gap is still significant and shows no clear signs of convergence. The differences in the levels of part-time work between the sexes in the Basque Country are markedly high in the national context and account for a major part of the pay gap. The asymmetrical distribution of household responsibilities among couples is one of the main causes of women’s lower work intensity.