Yet, across Europe, the within-couple gap in working hours - the male partner’s hours less the female partner's hours in couples where the male partner works - is generally sizable (Figure 4.8). With German mothers so frequently working less than 30 hours per week and fathers putting in long hours, the within-couple hours gap in Germany is amongst the widest at over 25 hours per week, together with Austria and Switzerland. Gaps are wide, too, in Southern Mediterranean countries, because so many women are inactive.