Center for Advanced Economic Studies CEVES participated in a public debate „Contribution of the Economic Reform Program (ERP) to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal 6 – Gender Equality“ on April 6, 2022, organized by Center for Democracy Foundation within the Platform „Sustainable Development for All„. The debate presented an analysis „Gender Perspective in the Economic Reform Program for the period 2022-2024“, authored by Sarita Bradaš, researcher at the Center for Democracy Foundation, with recommendations for the preparation of the next Economic Reform Program.
The key conclusion of the debate is that the ERP did not include an analysis of the impact of the planned structural reforms on gender equality, thereby increasing the risk of reproducing existing gender inequalities. When it comes to employment, what is often the cause of inactivity for women, but not for men, is family care. Caring for children or elderly household members is the reason for the inactivity of 30% of women in their most productive age – between 25 and 55 years old, and only 1.5% of men of the same age.
Therefore, one of the key measures to eliminate the causes of women's inactivity is to improve the capacity of institutions for childcare and care for the elderly, and to improve access to these institutions for all persons – unemployed and inactive, as well as those in rural areas. Only such a set of measures would facilitate access to the labor market for over 120,000 women. In addition, the mandatory use of paid parental leave for both parents would contribute to balancing the division of unpaid work, i.e., the division of time spent on household care between genders, thereby reducing the burden on women, who can dedicate more of their time to personal goals and more active job searching.
More information about the participants and the recording of the debate are available at link.
