As age increases, these percentages consistently fall. Although the levels vary according to country group, the former stay in the education system longer and the latter begin to leave school earlier. In lower-income sectors, inactivity rates decline with age but plateau after age 20 or 21. This stands in contrast to what happens among their high-income peers, where labour-market participation increases and reaches relatively high levels towards the end of youth. As a result, in the higher-income sectors the participation rates for men and women converge. This pattern is not confirmed in low-income sectors, where gender inequalities (due to a number of constraints and the lack of support for care) operate as a barrier to the integration of women in the productive world.