Somewhere more and somewhere less, in five countries: Albania, Kosovo, Montenegro, Serbia, and North Macedonia, women’s employment is far from the standard and with many barriers.

An in-depth research by authors from five Balkan countries titled ‘(Lack of) Economic power of women in the Western Balkans market’, identifies the challenges of each country in the employment of women.

The authors of the report state throughout the content that women are discriminated against, underpaid, and have fewer opportunities to exercise their right to work. The consequences of women not being engaged in work include huge losses in gross output and a lack of income for women. The report ranks Kosovo as the ‘leader’ in discrimination against women’s employment.

Only 17% of women with job opportunities are employed in Kosovo, while the data shows that they are underpaid compared to men. Such a situation in Kosovo is attributed to social awareness and culture, but also to investment and social aspects. Factors that keep women out of the labor market, according to the report, are the lack of childcare centers. Although these centers exist in some areas, they are unaffordable. Other factors are the lack of public transport and maternity leave, which makes women remain unequal in employment.

Albania is estimated to have a similar cultural tradition to Kosovo, but there the dominance of the patriarchy is estimated to be lower and this has influenced there to be more women in the labor market. According to data that measures the number of unemployed in Albania, 55.5% of the unemployed are men, while 44.5% are women.

However, even Albania has not reached the required standard and as a result, 20% of the gross domestic product is lost due to the non-engagement of women in the labor market. Data from the report show that women in Albania continue to be discriminated against in leadership, management, and employment in senior leadership positions. The report finds that government funds allocated for gender projects have had little impact on the improvement of the situation.

North Macedonia has similar challenges in the employment of women. Government projects aimed at engaging women in employment were rejected by the community. According to the report, this has created a situation where over 51% of women who are active in work are not employed.

The collected data states that North Macedonia is a traditional society dominated by the perception that women should be housewives and men should be the main breadwinners of the family. Discrimination against women is also found in property issues, only 27% of women have properties registered in their name.

The challenges of women’s employment are similar in Montenegro. There it is established that 44.1% of women able to work are employed, while the challenges are approximately similar to other countries. Patriarchal culture, the dominance of men over women, or even the lack of equal opportunities are considered factors that demotivate women to find a job.

The data from the report shows that even in the ownership of the economy, women are discriminated against. Less than 10% of companies are owned by women, while measurements show that women earn about 14% less than men for the same type of business and are underrepresented in leadership positions in the public and private sectors.

Data from the report show that there are similar challenges in Serbia as well. In this country, the balance is better, but when comparing the data on the unemployed, it turns out that there are more unemployed women than men. The report shows that discrimination is especially prevalent in key sectors of the economy, such as agriculture, where women account for only 17% of the agricultural economy.

The Balkans, a challenge for women’s economy

The data of the report on the powerlessness of women in the Balkans’ economy were discussed in Pristina in a conference attended by the Ambassador of Norway, Jens Erik Grondahl, the Vice-Minister of Finance, Labor and Transfers, Resul Makreshi, Fatmire Kollçaku, and Albana Bytyçi.

Ambassador Grondahl mentioned a very symbolic example when he talked about the exclusion of women from the economy. “If we leave women out of the economy, then we play with half a team and this is unacceptable,” said Grondahl. According to him, gender equality is important for a stable, strong, and peaceful society. He expressed his happiness for the support they have given and said that this issue is a long road that must be crossed together.

Vice-minister Resul Makreshi, challenged by the data that women in Kosovo make up only 17% of employees, spoke about the work that the government has done in relation to this issue.

“We are aware that the empowerment of women in the labor market requires further commitment, therefore our work in this direction will continue” – concluded Makreshi. Some of the problems that affect the level of women’s participation in the labor market according to research are the division of professions by gender, low wages, lower salaries for women who work a similar job as men, the lack of work with flexible hours, or half-time, lack of childcare centers or inability to afford them. Meanwhile, another problem highlighted in rural areas is the lack of public transport that would fit the work schedule and the ability to take care of their children. He mentioned several government packages, including maternity allowances and subsidizing businesses that employ women.

“49.2% of women stated that taking care of the family, housework, and children were the reasons why they were not looking for work” – the research states. The research, in addition to the findings, also provides recommendations for each of the 5 countries included in the research, although the situation and recommendations do not differ much within countries.

The harmonization of educational policies with the requirements of the labor market, regulating the capacities of the labor inspection bodies to improve the control of the proper implementation of the legislation, the activation of measures or funds to provide services that increase the participation of women in the labor market, combating discrimination not only during employment but also after returning to the labor market, especially after maternity leave, were some of the recommendations given.

In addition to them, it was mentioned public awareness through media campaigns, the adoption of special regulations that ensure equal property inheritance in terms of gender for women not only in written law but in practice as well, initially by regulating the practice of renouncing the right to property and inheritance. It was also mentioned the review of the existing labor laws and the adoption of parental leave instead of maternity leave in order for both parents to equally share the responsibility of caring for children.

Researchers’ experience

The five authors of the research gathered in a panel in Pristina have argued the findings found in the report. Judita Krasniqi-Hajdari from D4D mentioned the need for the government’s social policies to be specific and oriented.

“The goal is to show that a policy cannot be defined and applied to all women, but must be specific, for example for women in rural or urban areas. The problems faced by women should also be addressed specifically in terms of the institutional aspect. More must be done to strengthen the mechanisms that implement the law because the law or the full implementation of the law is the only possibility to eliminate not only the barriers or negative phenomena that are currently found in the labor market in Kosovo” – said Hajdari.

Another author, Andela Lucic from ISSP, linked the explanation of the unemployment trends of women in Montenegro to the Covid-19 crisis and the war in Ukraine. “The outbreak of the war in Ukraine was accompanied by a significant deterioration of gross domestic product in 2022 in Montenegro”. She explains that research has found many problems in women’s employment, but traditional gender norms are the main causes.

The other author, Kristijan Trajkovski from the CPMR from North Macedonia, describes the families of the area as traditional families. “We can conclude that it is a clear picture of a patriarchal family, where the woman stays at home and takes care of the children, the older members of the family, cooks, etc., while the man is the breadwinner, provides food and takes care of finances” – says Trajkovski.

The other author, Svetlana Stefanović from BFPE, revealed the situation in Serbia.

“Most of the data in Serbia show that women have greater difficulties in entering and re-entering the labor market than men. And some of the main reasons are discrimination, the lack of proper education or informal education, gender-blind policies, the mismatch between education and the labor market for men, and the balance between personal and professional life,” she said.

The recently published report, in addition to the causes, also addressed the legal and structural problems of the states in addressing gender equality in employment and the economy.

This editorial was written in the framework of the project “Using Development: Increasing women’s access to employment” which is supported by the Norwegian Embassy in Pristina.

The editorial is also published on Kallxo.com: https://kallxo.com/gjate/hulumtim/ballkani-perendimor-pa-mundesi-per-grate/