Position of women in
society and labour
market
Case study: Bulgaria
General data on the position of
women in the society
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Political tradition, Constitutional rights:
Tarnovo Constitution 1879- passive voting right
for the women;
The Constitution from 1947: active and passive
voting right for all over 18 years of age; Chapter
of basic rights and duties proclaims the equality
between men and women- par.2 of art.72 to the
right to work, payment for equal work, right to
repose, right to social insurance, pension and
education; special protection for working womenmothers and child-care provisions, kindergartens,
paid maternity leave
Political tradition, constitutional
rights- continuation
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The Constitution from 1971: reaffirming the
voting rights, as well the special protection
for working women
The Constitution from 1991: reaffirming the
political and voting rights for women
Working rights, art. 48, par.1
Ratified ILO Conventions in gender area:
C100- equal remuneration; C111 against
discrimination in occupation and professions;
C183 on motherhood protection; UN
Convention on elimination for all forms of
discrimination against women, 1979
Special protective rights
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In case of motherhood: In Labour Code365 days paid leave before -45 days and
after birth, 2 years paid leave + 1 year
unpaid; 3 years recognition of service;
child allowances are still very low
In a case of pregnancy: Labour Codeprotective working environment; also
breastfeeding regulations, but problems in
implementation because of transformation
of labour market
Gender Statistics
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Demography: 51,6% women share in the population (7 801
300, 2003)
Birth rate: last position in the world according the World
Bank report April 2005: 8 new born at 1000; minus 8,7%
growth rate – difference betw. births and dead per 1000
people /2003/; 1,42 child average in family, 2008; at the
same time the highest rate in CEE for children born outside
the wedlock- 50,2% in 2008 due to some ethnic specifics
and new forms of living in a household
GNP per capita: from 1985 till 2001 trend minus 12,6%,
217 USD per person in 2001; but 2005 trend to growth of
5,7%; feminization of poverty- alone living elder
pensioners, single mothers, disabled women, ethnic groups,
women in the border areas
Statistics- gender
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60,8% of all population is in the working age
Structure of the working force: 53,1% men, 49,9% female.
54,3% coefficient of employment: 53,0% men, 47%
women (MLSP 2004); coefficient of economic activity of
women 62,1% in 2008
Unemployment rate: 12,1% for the first 9 months 2004,
54,7% are women, for women higher in the age group 2434 and after 45 years: 15.9% and 13,8% (2003, NSI); in
1993 -21,4% unemployed in 2003- 15,3%
Wage pay gap: women gain 80-87% of the men’s salaries
2004-2008; 13-15% lower of the men’s payments; impact
on the pensions
Employment sectors for women: education- 81,1%; health
care- 80,2%, financial services/agencies – 71,6%; about
55% of all employed in the services are women
Position of women in the labour
market
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Decreasing tendency: Index of
economic activity- IEA and Index of
employment IE
For men: IEA drops with 7,2% for 10
years period: from 60.5% in 1993 to
53.3% in 2003
For women: IEA of 11% decreases
from 55.5% in 1993 to 44.1% in
2003
Specific problems for women in
labour
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Access for young women in the age
group 25-34 to jobs- dilemma to
choose between a job and family;
employers participation in
enforcement of legally binding rights
is required
The age group over 45 years: most
problematic
Social assistance for women
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Children’s allowances- very low after the age of 2
of the child– 10 Euro a month dependent on the
income of family (110 euro per person)
Decreasing number of kindergartens- only 6 of
1000 children are visiting before the age of 6;
traditional model of raising children at home
(grandmothers, daily care “mothers”); private
kitas; community financed- fees to high for some
families
General cuts in social expenditures in the state
budget – mostly reflects single mothers with
small children
Labour market statistics- women
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Coefficient of unemployment for 2008- 6,31%
Coefficient of unemployment for women in 2007
is 7,3%; 6,6% for men
Coefficient of economic activity of women is
62,1% 2007; 70,6% for men
Coefficient of long-term unemployed women is
4,5% 2007; 3,7% of men
The education level of the women is high /share
of women amongst the persons with high
education is 52,5% /2005/
Summary, main problems of working women
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Still low the coefficient of employment for women
Existing horizontal and vertical segregation on gender on
the labour market
Pay gap decreasing, but still existing
The women are frequently affected by the unemployment
than men
The poverty is feminised; the women stay long term in
poverty than the men bcs. of the lower salaries and later on
lower pensions; the old women, single mothers and women
from some ethnic groups are highly exposed to social
exclusion and poverty
The women in Bulgaria are not willing to work part-time
bcs. of the lower payment and of the insufficient number of
offers for that kind of jobs on the labour market
Summary, main problems of working women
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The women in Bulgaria hardly reconcile the professional,
personal and family life
The women of ethnic groups /Roma, Moslems/, the women
in small town and villages are more often exposed to the
home violence
The problems of the young women are not on the Agenda
of the society
The participation of women in politics and in decision
making is still low: 22% in the Parliament; 9% women are
mayors; women in the local parliaments/governments are
22%