ABSTRACT
This chapter describes some of the broad features of women's employment patterns in Europe. Common conditions include not only a feminisation, but also a more continuous employment profile over women's lifetime, a concentration in certain sectors, high levels of underemployment, a pay gap, a lack of access to senior positions, and job insecurity. In all countries, the patterns of women's employment differ from men's, though the precise differences vary. The bottom line is women's responsibility for reproduction, for housework and childcare. In Europe there is a deep rooted assumption that this is women's work. The survey after survey across different countries reveals how little time men actually spend on domestic labour, with little variation according to the employment status of his partner. There are variations between European countries in immigration laws relating to domestic workers, in all the cities there were considerable numbers of undocumented women migrants working as live-in help.
