Vienna conquers the quota of women in the town hall with a red-pink coalition!

Vienna conquers the quota of women in the town hall with a red-pink coalition!

Wien, Österreich - In the Viennese political landscape, an exciting change is bought. SPÖ boss Michael Ludwig recently presented a red-pink coalition, which set standards with a 62% proportion of women in the city government. This is a clear step in a direction that many have long demanded in politics: the promotion of female voices at decision tables. The Vienna City Council currently sees 59 men and 41 women, which corresponds to a quota of women of 41%-an improvement compared to the national average of 36.6% in the National Council, as the

But the numbers cloud the euphoria a little. In comparison to international standards, Austria does not do well. According to the Federal Statistical Office and further reports are still too low in parliaments at global level. The average worldwide in March 2025 was only 27.2%. While there are 63.8% female MPs in Rwanda, we see in Austria that only 31 of the 2,115 municipalities have a proportion of women of over 50% in their committees. In the state parliaments, the highest quota is 44% in Vorarlberg, while Carinthia forms only 17% in the bottom.

political challenges for women

The political framework is not exactly friendly to women. In Austria there are no legally defined women's quotas for the National Council or the state parliament, which further complicates the necessary representation of women. The parliamentary service indicates that freelance quotas (ÖVP, SPÖ, GREEN) are only considered insufficient. In order to increase the women's shares, it is recommended to put women on front lists. A model used in the Vienna City Council provides for financial support for clubs with a proportion of women of at least one third.

The FPÖ has the worst values ​​with a proportion of women of only 4% in the local council, while the ÖVP is 40% and the SPÖ at 49%. There is a gratifying trend for the Greens and Neos: Here are women in the majority (Greens: 8 to 7, Neos: 6 to 4). In contrast to these gratifying odds, however, the position of the municipal council chairman, which is occupied by Thomas Reindl (SPÖ), remains dominated by men.

A look into the future

Despite these encouraging developments, the entire political landscape in Austria is still male. The Landtag Presidium is purely male, and only one woman is represented among the five club guards in the local council: Selma Arapovic from the Neos. The district chief positions also show an unequal picture: 16 men face 7 women. After all, the first district leader of city history, Marie Franc from the ÖVP, can look back on a story that extends until 1959.

The academic quota is also interesting among the parties: While the NEOs have 90% the highest quota, the FPÖ has the worst result with only 32%. Angela Schütz from FPÖ remains the only academic woman in her party, a sign of how important an increase in the proportion of women is not only in parliament, but also in municipalities and committees.