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Compared to other European countries, the number of women employed in Austria is low, said the author of the study Gudrun Biffl at the presentation of her investigation on "Women and the Economic Crisis". On behalf of the AK and the ÖGB, the Dean of the Faculty of Communication and Globalization at Danube University Krems presented the most recent results of her study at the end of March 2011. These show that a high rate of employed women exerts a positive effect on economic growth. Biffl and her team, her co-authors Anna Faustmann and Isabella Skrivanek, investigated the proportion of employed women (by comparing these figures with international data) and its effects on economic growth as well as determined the state of social services.
The authors concluded that it will be necessary to invest in child care, nursing and other services in order to mobilize resources by way of well qualified women. Especially in non-urban areas we need additional employment opportunities to secure local jobs. Based on the example of four model regions, Ms. Biffl shows what pathways one should broach in the future in order to ensure sustained impulses for economic growth. One of the main aspects of this project is networking social services, because especially small communities lack the monetary resources needed to offer comprehensive services. Cooperation and division of work might be a solution. Overall, investments in social welfare would be worthwhile in any case, said the sponsors at the presentation in Vienna. "They not only create jobs but also reduce the load on the budget," said Bernhard Achitz from ÖGB.
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