Women's perspectives, experiences, needs and skills are insufficiently anchored in politics, and even more so in local politics. One reason for this is that women are significantly underrepresented in political office. But there are ways to change this.
The proportion of women in district councils and city councils of independent cities varies between 22 per cent in Saxony and 38.7 per cent in Hesse. This is shown by surveys for the Gender Equality Atlas, which is published by the Federal Ministry for Families, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth. However, the municipal level is particularly important for the development of rural areas, as it is here that decisions are made about which projects to tackle locally. Nationwide data on the composition of local councils is not yet available. The Thünen Institute therefore analysed gender relations in the municipalities as part of the so-called 5-country evaluation. Among other things, the researchers investigated whether and how support programs for rural development in five federal states contribute to gender equality.
In the states analysed (Hesse, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein), there is a clear gender imbalance in the municipalities compared to the district level. Women are rarely represented on municipal and local councils or among mayors. Figure one shows this as an example for Hesse. In the smaller municipalities, the average proportion of women is less than 30 per cent and continues to fall the smaller the municipality are. Only in municipalities with more than 20,000 inhabitants is the average proportion of women on councils above 30 per cent. There is a continuous increase in the average proportion of women. However, this is marginal in the lower municipality size classes. Overall, in the 2021 local elections the proportion of women on the councils of the municipalities belonging to districts (28 per cent) was only four percentage points higher than in 2016 (24 per cent). Other studies come to similarly sobering conclusions. For example, the proportion of women on city and municipal councils in Saxony was 22 per cent after the 2024 local elections.
The situation is even worse for the leading positions in municipalities, cities and districts: Women are barely represented. Figure two shows this as an example for Lower Saxony. Of 405 full-time mayors in 2020, only 46 or 11.4 per cent were female. Among the heads of the districts and independent cities, only three out of 46 were women, which corresponds to a proportion of 6.5 per cent. This leads to significant disadvantages for female residents: Direct decisions on local infrastructure and the provision of funding, for example via programmes such as LEADER, are made at municipal level.
Effects on political decisions
A number of studies show clear differences in the social and political preferences of men and women. Women tend to adopt positions that are more balanced and oriented towards common welfare. Some studies show that they are more likely to problematise environmental and climate policy aspects and are more open to change. These different preferences also lead to different political decisions. In the European Parliament, for example, female parliamentarians are more likely to vote in favour of environmental protection proposals than their male colleagues.
In Parliamentary work, a higher proportion of women leads to more support for women's employment, higher spending on childcare, health and development aid and, in some cases, lower defence spending. In addition, climate policy is implemented more strictly.
Women also make a difference in local politics. For example, a study in Bavaria showed that a higher proportion of female local councillors went hand in hand with an expansion of public childcare. In other words, a higher proportion of women ensures that women's concerns are given appropriate consideration in politics. Beyond this direct effect, women have other influences: A single additional woman can change the dynamics of the conversation on the council, making the contributions of other women in the council more effective.
Studies from other European countries show that a higher proportion of women in local politics was associated with an improved quality of life in the municipality. A higher proportion of women also had a positive effect on budget transparency.
Why women are underrepresented
Science has identified a number of reasons why women are underrepresented in political bodies:
- Women are said to be less inclined to compete. This tendency is most likely due to social norms.
- Men are more likely to be encouraged to run for office than women.
- The male party leaderships are prejudiced against women, are less likely to accept them as candidates and if they do, they are more likely to end up on unpromising list positions. Women are still unable to penetrate the closed networks of men. Men support each other and reproduce the existing inequality of power.
In addition, women have a greater time burden due to paid and unpaid care work. This means that they simply have less free time for (political) engagement.
The (male-dominated) political culture also tends to discourage women and slow them down. For example, it is difficult to reconcile late-night meetings with family responsibilities. Disrespectful behaviour towards women, such as ignoring, interrupting and ‘persuading’ them to speak, is behaviour that is still not a thing of the past, especially in rural areas.
In addition to the tendency to nominate women for unpromising candidacies, the incumbency bonus in mayoral elections also perpetuates the existing overrepresentation of men. Howeverno voter preference for one gender was found in research.
In order to achieve equal representation of women and men at municipal level, a number of changes are required: mentoring programmes for women are particularly helpful. They make women visible as role models and provide networking and encouragement for other interested women. A change in the culture of meetings also supports the political involvement of women. Programmes such as the Municipal Action Programme or the Helene Weber College support women in local politics.
