Naslov
Croatia Country Gender Assessment: Investing in Opportunities for All

Autori
Morrica, Valerie ; Sharafudheen, Tara ; Anres Corral Rodas, Paul ; Casabonne, Ursula ; Boehmova, Janković, Vesna ; Goldberger, Goran

Izvornik
Zagreb: World Bank Group - Croatia Country Office

Vrsta, podvrsta
Ostale vrste radova, ekspertiza

Godina
2019

Ključne riječi
Croatia ; equality ; gender ; labor market ; quantitative analysis ; qualitative analysis

Sažetak
The Croatia Country Gender Assessment reviewed the state of equality between women and men in Croatia in endowments, economic opportunities, and voice and agency. Overall, the country has made progress on including gender equality both institutionally and legally into its policy agenda. Certain indicators of gender equality remain strong, such as equitable primary and secondary school enrollment for boys and girls. A closer look reveals areas that need to be improved, such as equality in the labor market, women’s entrepreneurship and role in politics and business, the situation of Roma women, rural and urban disparities, care work distribution between men and women, and the inclusion of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) people. The most significant gap is in access to economic opportunities, with a large number of women, youth, retirees, and minorities excluded from the labor market. Sustainable and effective solutions for this complex issue lie in a whole of government effort covering education and skills development, including retraining and lifelong learning ; equity in healthcare ; provision of care services to enable women to enter the labor market ; and inclusive entrepreneurship. The findings are in line with some of the issues raised in the Croatia Systematic Country Diagnostic of the World Bank ; this assessment unpacks these issues in more detail and identifies additional areas for attention. The World Bank could use its engagement with the Government of Croatia to advocate for these issues, and to look for entry points in its current portfolio and pipeline. To this end, a Gender Roadmap will be developed under the Country Partnership Framework that will focus on how some of the gender gaps could be reduced through the Bank’s current and future engagement, and progress tracked periodically. The conclusions have been arrived at using mixed methods, supplementing quantitative sources with qualitative tools. The assessment is also innovative in highlighting the intersectionality of overlapping disadvantages from social and spatial exclusion. It does this by bringing in voices of the youth, elderly women, Roma, and LGBTI from Slavonia (one of the least-developed parts of the country), and Zagreb (the most developed). For instance, the cumulative disadvantages for an elderly rural woman in less-developed Slavonia is not the same as that for a woman of similar age in the capital Zagreb. Croatian women do well in education at all levels, including tertiary education, yet school completion does not translate into higher levels of female labor market participation. Instead, Croatia’s overall employment has a sizeable gender gap. Compared to 71 percent of active men being employed, only 61 percent of active women have paid jobs. For women, there are changes across the lifecycle, and not for the better: women start out at comparable employment levels with men, but their labor market participation drops with age. This phenomenon is likely a result of two factors: traditional gender norms related to the family, and the difficulties faced by women of childbearing age as they seek work or try to return after starting a family. Care responsibilities for elderly relatives with the rapid aging of the population, could also be a factor. Men in Croatia earn significantly more than women each year. The average monthly wage for women is about 88.7 percent of that for men, making working women worse off than men throughout their lifecycle. The gender pay gap leads to a pension gap, as a result of which, women face social exclusion, poverty, and economic dependence on their husband or partner after leaving the labor market.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija

POVEZANOST RADA