Stats hide gender gap

The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland has published a report claiming that official statistics on gender sometimes hide the full extent of inequalities between women and men.

The report, Gaps in stats: gender and official statistics in Northern Ireland, looks at how the limitations of statistics collected by the government can cause difficulties in devising employment, social and education policies that meet the needs of men and women. For example, statistics on households often assume an equal division of labour and access to resources within a household. And when in employment, the jobs that women do are often hidden because of the way statistics are collected.

Gaps in stats is available from the Sex Equality Directorate, Equality Commission for Northern Ireland, Chamber of Commerce House, 22 Great Victoria Street, Belfast, BT2 7BA. Tel: 028 9050 0600.