The two bar charts give information about the proportion of male and female employees in five age brackets (from 16 to 60+) as well as their youngest children’s average age (from 0 to 25) in the UK in the year 2008.
Overall, the highest proportion of the employees of each gender was in the 35-49 age group. The highest percentage of male workers had youngest children whose ages ranged from 6 to 20, with three age cohorts showing the same figures, whereas the largest percentage of females’ youngest child was 21-25 years old. Notably, the proportion of female employees was higher in most age groups, however, the pattern was reversed when it came to their children’s age breakdown, with the percentage of male parents exceeding that of their counterparts in all but one group.
Three middle cohorts of employees – those between their late twenties and fifties – accounted for the highest figures, with women prevailing in each group. Standing at the maximum of 83% in the 35-49 age bracket, the percentage of female workers was slightly lower in the older 50-59 group – at 80%- and another 10% lower in the 26-34 age band. The proportions of men followed the same ranking order. In the mentioned three groups, they were similarly large, albeit lower than women’s: 77% for 34-49-year-old males, 70% for 50-59-year-olds, and 65% for 26-34-year-olds. Much lower figures, however, were recorded in the youngest and the oldest age brackets, ones where the percentage of men exceeded that of women. Males over 60 showed just under 40%, as opposed to 25% of their counterpart, while 16-25-years-olds saw a mere 20% and 15% for men and women respectively.
Male parents prevailed in most groups, with the largest proportion of them having 6-10, 11-15 or 16-20-year-old youngest child: 75% in each age bracket. A slightly lower proportion was recorded among 21-25-year-old children – with about 72% of their fathers employed. As for female employees, the highest percentage of them – 70% – had a 21-25-year-old youngest child, and this percentage decreased by 5% in each younger group, reaching 55%, the lowest figure, in the 6-10 age band. In the remaining group, with children aged 0-5, females stood at 60%, as was the case with males.