Europe and Central Asia: Women in the Labor Market and Issues Pertaining to Childcare Sarosh Sattar ECA Gender Coordinator June 14, 2010

What is the issue? Are high levels of female labor force participation rates sustainable without “structural” changes? ◦ Childcare reforms ◦ Fertility changes ◦ Family support systems

Basic Outline Some descriptive statistics on female labor force participation rates Where do women work? Evidence on women’s labor force participation rates and child bearing Some concluding thoughts

EVOLUTION OF WOMEN’S LABOR FORCE PARTICIPATION

Female Labor Force Participation is High and Comparable to OEC

Female Labor Force Participation Dropped in most ECA Countries….

WHERE DO WOMEN WORK?

Women were more likely to be in wage jobs than self-employed

Employment Distribution by Industry in ECA

WOMEN AND FERTILITY

Some “knowns” but no data In the pre-1990 era, childcare was widely available either in the workplace or provided by municipalities With the demise of the SOEs and the fiscal retrenchment that occurred, childcare was severely cut With the growth in the economies, the provision of childcare services did not rebound Grandmothers supposedly have taken up the role of providing childcare for families though this causes other problems (pensions)

Women’s fertility has plummeted in ECA Countries

Women’s Fertility Decreases Labor Force Participation

CONCLUDING REMARKS

Bringing it together Women in the ECA region have coped with the demise of wide spread availability of childcare ◦ Decreased their fertility ◦ Strong preference of wage employment in health and education sectors which are largely in the public sector We are unsure of the childcare mechanisms employed by women ◦ Maternity leave regulations remain relatively generous ◦ More likely that these are complied with in the public sector ◦ Not sure of role of grandparents, its extensiveness ◦ Not sure to what extent private sector provided childcare services are being provided