Luxembourg, 22/05/2002 (Agence Europe) - According to a study published on 21 May by Eurostat, the most common situation in the European Union is for both partners to have a job. For couples without children this share ranged in 2000 from 42% in Spain to 79% in the United Kingdom (in 1999), while for couples with children it ranged from 44%, again in Spain, to 74% in Portugal. In every Member State for which data is available the relative importance of dual participant couples has shown an upward trend since 1992. The percentage of dual participant couples varies significantly between Member States. In Greece, Spain and Italy the level was between 40% and 50% in 2000 for couples both with and without children, while in France, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal and the United Kingdom the proportion was two thirds or more for both type of couple. In all Member States covered, and for couples both with and without children, dual participation has increased between 1992 and 2000. The largest increase was for couples with children in the Netherlands (+20 percentage points). Dual participation in couples both with and without children rose by 12 points in Spain, and by around 10 points in Belgium and Ireland (between 1992 and 1997). The impact of children on employment in couples varies between Member States. The two-earner situation was actually more common in couples with children than in those without in five Member States, with the largest differences found in Belgium (+11%) and Portugal (+9%). The percentage of couples with both partners in work was the same for both groups in Italy. Two-earner couples were less common among those with children than without in six Member States, with the greatest differences recorded in Ireland (-10%), Germany (-10%) and the United Kingdom (-9%). The variation in the pattern of employment between Member States seems to be more pronounced than the variation between households with children than without. In 2000, the majority of dual participant couples were made up of two full-time workers, except for couples with children in Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. However, one partner was more likely to be working part-time among couples with children than those without in all Member States covered except Portugal. The woman was the partner most likely to be working part-time in all Member States. In all Member States covered, there was a gap of over 20 percentage points in 2000 between couples in which the woman had a university degree, or equivalent education, and couples in which the woman had only completed compulsory schooling.