Hardworking, educated, active, confident and satisfied with life – this is the picture of average Belarusian woman, BelTA learned from the Belarus’ National Statistics Committee.
According to the latest population census, Belarus’ female population amounted to 5.1 million, or 53.8% of the country’s total population.
Belarusian women account for half of the country’s workforce. Average employment rate for working-age women is 84.7%. Women dominate healthcare and social services (85.6%), education (81.2%), finance and insurance (75%), accommodation and catering (71.6%). The least of women is represented in construction (18.6%), transport, stockpiling, postal and courier activities (35.9%), agriculture, forestry and fisheries (39.4%).
The educational level of women is higher than that of men. For example, 39.2% of Belarusian women employed in the economy have diplomas of higher education, 27.2% — diplomas of vocational education (27% and 19% among men respectively).
A sample survey of households by living standards showed that one in four women aged 16 and over devoted their free time to physical education and sports, and one in six of them did it daily.
Even more time Belarusian women spend on the internet, especially young women (aged between 16-24). About 97.6% of them used the internet on a daily basis last year.
Like many European women, Belarusian women increasingly prefer to postpone marriage to a later period of their lives. Love knows no age, and that is proved by the fact that the number of women who married at 60 and later increases. Last year 1,095 Belarusian women got married at that age (156 less in 2018). In 2019, over 62,700 women got married, and 41,700 of them got married for the first time. Among 86,800 women who gave birth last year 39% were first-time mothers. Some 38% had their second child, 16% third child, and 7% fourth and subsequent children.
The sample survey of households conducted in 2019 (MIX 6) showed interesting results. It turned out that 90% of Belarusian women aged 15-49 feel happy and satisfied with their lives by 7 points out of 10. They have more and more opportunities to realize themselves not only as wives and mothers but also as professionals, as individuals — Belarus ranked 27th in the Gender Equality Index among 162 countries in 2018.