Signal Female labour participation: Sweden 82 percent versus Spain 75 percent (ages 25 to 64)

Summary

The report compares the labour participation rate of Swedish women aged 25 to 64, now 82 percent, with 75 percent in Spain. Its first desirable scenario holds that if Spain raised female participation to that level, it would largely offset the negative effect of demography on the active population. That scenario sets an 82 percent target for women aged 25 to 54 and 55 to 64 in the 2050 population, applying average 2020 to 2024 rates to all other groups. A second scenario targets 77 percent participation for people aged 55 to 64 and 16 percent for those aged 65 to 74, matching goals in the España 2050 strategy. The report treats other countries' experience as a roadmap for Spanish labour policy. The comparison is set against the risk that, with unchanged participation, the active population could shrink by up to three million by 2050.