Gender Equality Index Labour Market. An Analysis of the Gender Ratio in Austria

The position of women and men in the labour market is shaped by a complex interplay of personal, economic, cyclical, structural, institutional, and regional factors. The resulting abundance of information, however, makes rapid and systematic monitoring of the state of gender equality and its potential in the labour market a challenging endeavour. In 2015, WIFO therefore developed the Gender Equality Index Labour Market in coordination with the Public Employment Service as a comprehensive measurement instrument for the Austrian labour market. This index consolidates a range of indicators drawn from the thematic fields of employment, income, education, and family, depicting in aggregated form the extent of gender equality between women and men in the Austrian labour market as well as across the individual federal provinces. In 2026, WIFO is updating the results – most recently published in 2017, 2020 and 2023 – for the fourth time.