Egypt's official census authority says that although Egyptian women make up around 50 percent of the country's population of 90 million, they constitute less than a quarter of the country's labour force. In its report on Tuesday marking International Women's Day, the Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) said that Egypt is home to 44.1 (49 percent) million women and 45.9 million men (51 percent). The number of females in Egypt's workforce constitutes almost a third of that of men – 23.5 percent as opposed to 72.3 percent. Over a quarter of this figure (27.3 percent) are employed in the public sector, mostly in the service branch, compared to 73 percent of the male workforce. The report shows that women have a longer lifespan than men, reaching an average age of 72.9, while the average for men is estimated at 70.1, according to 2015 data. On the political landscape, 89 members of Egypt's 596-seat parliament (15 percent) – elected late last year – are women. The International Women's Day is held on 8 March every year, and was first observed in the United States in 1909 in honour of the 1908 strike in New York by female workers against working conditions, and has been recognised by the United Nations since 1975. source: Ahram Online
