"In transition economies*, the overall trends show that,
until recently, women absorbed a disproportionally large share of employment
cuts" stresses Ewa Ruminska-Zimny, Regional Adviser on Gender and Economy
of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
Employment cuts were the deepest in the first half of 1990s,
when GDP sharply declined and countries introduced major reforms and austerity
measures to stabilize the economy. During that time the decrease in the women's
employment was larger than for men's in the majority of countries (see table
1). The differences ranged from 2-5 percentage points in Armenia, The former
Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia or Estonia to close to 10-13 points in Albania,
Lithuania and Russia. Significant gender gap in employment cuts was also seen
in Kazakhstan, Slovenia and Ukraine. During 1995-1998 asymmetric cuts in female
employment continued in the Baltic States (except Estonia), all CIS countries,
as well as Albania, Hungary and Slovenia.
During the last two years, the available data show that men
were more affected than women by employment cuts, except Armenia, Slovakia
and Slovenia. "It probably reflects the pattern of structural changes
and longer protection of men's jobs in industry. It may, however, also indicate
women's flexibility in adjusting to the demand, including through accepting
jobs at the lower end of the labour market." (see chart 1)
Furthermore, in many of these countries, lower unemployment
rates reflected women's withdrawal from the labour market, especially in the
first phase of the transition process (see table 4). In all countries for
which data was available, the decline in women's activity rates was sharper
than for men between 1985 and 1997, except Slovenia. This may be less relevant
to explain lower unemployment rates for women since 1997 as in a number of
countries women's activity rates declined less than men's, or, such as in
Hungary or Russia, increased more than men's.
Despite successes of woman-entrepreneurs, men start their own
businesses usually twice as often as women. During the 1990s the gap between
men and women in entrepreneurial activities has widened in most of countries
for which data are available (see table 5). As demonstrated by studies from
Bulgaria, Hungary and Poland, this gap could be partly explained by gender
specific barriers, such as lack of access to networks, negative attitudes
towards women-entrepreneurs or discrimination in bank lending.
"Gender aspects need attention at policy level in order
to achieve equal opportunities for men and women in the labour market, minimize
social costs of restructuring and fully utilize human resources. Clearly,
equal opportunities in the labour market cannot be ensured without adequate
family and social protection policies" says Ewa Ruminska Zimny. "This
involves more discussion on the impact of budgetary cuts on men and women,
gender aspects of pension reforms and changes in fiscal system. The initiative
on gender responsive budget, supported by the UN and other organizations provides
the framework for such analysis."
____________
* Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech
Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, The former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia, Yugoslavia; Baltic states: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania;
CIS: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Republic
of Moldova, Russian Federation, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan
TABLE 1 - Growth rates of GDP
and employment in eastern Europe, the Baltic States and the CIS,
1991-2000
TABLE 4 - Male and female activity
rates in selected transition economies,
1985, 1997-2000 a
CHART 1 - Ratio of female to
male unemployment rates, in selected central and east European economies,
1998 and 2001
TABLE 5 - Self-employment as
a share of total employment in selected transition economies,
1993 and 2000
For more information please see:
"Gender aspects of changes in the labour markets in
transition economies"
http://www.unece.org/commission/2002/Ruminska-Zimny.pdf
or contact:
Ewa Ruminska-Zimny
Regional Adviser on Gender and Economy
United Nations Economic Commission for Europe
Palais des Nations
CH - 1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Phone: +41(0)22 917 16 98
Fax: +41(0)22 917 00 36
E-mail: [email protected]
Ref: ECE/OPA/02/08