Women adversely affected by economic crisis

The Women’s Committee of the Pan-European Regional Council, with the support of the International Labour Organziation, organised a regional workshop on the theme of ‘Women in the economic crisis and the informalisation of the economy’ in Sofia in May 2009. The workshop was attended by some 60 participants, comprising representatives from Bulgarian trade unions, the government, employer organisations, non-governmental organisations and other neighbouring countries.

On 7–8 May 2009, the Women’s Committee of the Pan-European Regional Council (PERC) held a workshop entitled ‘Women in the economic crisis and the informalisation of the economy’ in Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia. At the workshop, experts presented their research on the themes of women and the economic crisis, gender inequality in times of economic crisis, women and the informal economy, and the consequences of the crisis on domestic work. The initiative was supported by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and was attended by some 60 participants, comprising representatives from Bulgarian trade unions, the government, employer organisations, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other neighbouring countries – namely, Poland, Romania, Serbia and Turkey.

Trade union concerns

At the workshop, the Vice-president of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (Конфедерация на независимите синдикати в България, CITUB), Plamen Dimitrov, underlined the deep concerns of trade unions regarding the impact of the economic crisis on employment. In March 2009, Bulgaria’s unemployment rate stood at 6.88%, increasing by 1.03 percentage points compared with November 2008. According to data from the National Employment Agency, 59.1% of the total number of registered unemployed persons are women. Mr Dimitrov also pointed to the significant gender pay gap in Bulgaria: despite a narrowing trend over the period 1996–2006 (BG0703029I), the average pay of women was still 16.2% less than that of men in 2008. The pay gap is particularly severe in financial intermediation, where women’s wages are 34.4% less than those of men, along with healthcare and social activities (32.6% pay gap), textiles and clothing (31.1%), and education (17.8%). CITUB estimated that the economic crisis could lead to an increase in the number of unemployed women in 2009, which will result in a rise in poverty.

In her speech, the PERC Vice-president and President of the Union of Bulgarian Teachers (UBT), Janka Takeva, stated that about two thirds of women are employed in low-paid occupations and that women are more likely than men to work in low-paid and vulnerable jobs in the so-called female dominated sectors such as financial services, textiles and leather, chemicals, and hotels and restaurants. Ms Takeva added that many women accept work regardless of the conditions or pay, which is a precondition for extending the scope of the informal economy.

Impact of crisis on women

A representative of the Institute of Sociology at the Bulgarian Academy of Science, Roumiana Stoilova, stated that discriminatory attitudes could be reinforced during times of crisis and anticipated mass job losses. Executive Director of the Institute for Marketing and Social Surveys Research (MBMD), Miroslava Radeva, presented the data from the national representative survey under the title of ‘Women in the conditions of economic crisis’. The survey was conducted by MBMD between 28 March and 3 April 2009 among 1,234 citizens. The findings show that already 8% of women are unemployed due to the economic crisis, while 12% are working reduced working hours, and 34% have declared a reduction in income. Moreover, 43% of women of working age (18–55 years) believe that the crisis will have a serious impact on living standards. Some 27% of the women have credit loans, 4% of which are for mortgages and 23% for consumer purchases; for 48% of the women affected, mortgage credit payments will create problems.

Adoption of memorandum and follow-up

The participants of the workshop adopted a memorandum, which highlights the most important measures and actions to be taken by the end of 2009 and during 2010, while calling for urgent action by the government and employers regarding:

• the resumption of high quality and effective social dialogue;

• improving legislation concerning collective bargaining;

• measures to equalise wages between men and women;

• recovery funds for public sector systems, for education, health and social activities, and in countries where the share of the state budget for such services is being reduced – as is the case in Bulgaria;

• the creation and implementation of policies to ensure work-life balance;

• harmonisation of trade union and NGO work in the field.

In an effort to help solve such problems, PERC decided that the next meeting will be dedicated to debate on the topic of trade union and NGO control, as well as training on the implementation of the adopted memorandum. Another meeting is also being planned, involving the joint participation of representatives of the government, trade unions and NGOs.

Commentary

The workshop discussion showed that women are often affected by the negative consequences of economic crises in different ways than men, owing to their joint responsibilities at work and in the home. Moreover, as they are more likely than men to be in low-paid, precarious employment, they face a higher risk of immediate poverty when they become unemployed. The workshop also concluded that trade unions should place greater emphasis on the employment situation of women and call on the government to instigate gender mainstreaming in handling the economic crisis, as stated in the adopted memorandum.

Violeta Ivanova, Institute for Social and Trade Union Research (ISTUR)