Nvard Minasyan Gender Expert, Socio-Economic and Legal Researcher
Despite the significant increase in women’s economic participation in recent years and their undeniable role in the country’s economic development, women in Armenia do not have equal opportunities to fully realize their potential in the economy. According to data from the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia for 2023, women make up 53% of the labor resources while simultaneously – 67% of the population outside the labor force. This means that although the number of working-age women is relatively higher than that of men in the same segment, women constitute only 44% of the labor force and the vast majority, nearly 70% of the economically inactive population. At the same time, 52% of working-age women neither work nor seek employment.
As a result, facing unequal competition with men, women are either forced to overcome gender-based double difficulties to achieve financial stability or to go with the flow, becoming financially dependent and socially vulnerable.
Many women who choose the first path become role models. However, if we fail to notice and speak up about the double difficulties they have faced on their way to success, it will create the illusion that willpower alone is enough to succeed. That is why, in the event of failure at work or finding oneself in an economically vulnerable situation, the blame is mainly attributed to the woman, not to the institutional factors that make the path to success difficult.
It is also worth noting that the underutilization of women’s labor resources can seriously harm the country’s economy. According to the results of the World Bank Gender Assessment in Armenia carried out in 2016, the annual loss of the country’s GDP due to the low economic participation of women in the country is 14%, which, according to 2016 data, is about one and a half million US dollars. At the same time, it is regrettable that the issue of gender inequality often receives attention only when its consequences are reflected in the country’s economy, while the social aspect of the problem often remains unaddressed, and its gender-based causes remain ignored or even silenced.
According to the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Gap Report 2024, it will take another 134 years to achieve gender equality in economic, educational, health and political spheres. The lack of awareness about the problem and the inadequate attention given to it may indefinitely prolong inequalities between men and women.
MOTHERHOOD: JOY OR “PENALTY”?
Today, women around the world spend three times more time on unpaid domestic work than men. The unequal distribution of household chores is a global problem and is considered one of the main reasons for women’s exclusion from the labor market worldwide.
A study on the reasons for economic inactivity in Armenia has shown that 99% of those who are out of the labor force due to family circumstances are women, while only 1% are men. Indeed, the disproportionate distribution of unpaid domestic work and childcare between women and men can cost women limited opportunities for paid employment, fewer working hours (and therefore less income), informal/domestic work and lack of social protection, career regression, and the resulting socio-economic vulnerability.
Speaking about this, it is worth noting that since in our society family responsibilities, both child and elderly care, are stereotypically attributed to women and are often normalized and romanticized as the main mission of women’s lives, they are not even considered as unequal conditions and discrimination, leaving the need to respond to the problem out of focus.
Remuneration for women’s domestic and care work is beginning to be implemented in a number of countries, thanks to gender-sensitive budgeting, which recognizes and calculates the value of unpaid work, compensating it through social programs or financial support. In recent years, efforts to introduce gender-sensitive budgeting in Armenia have not yet yielded the desired results, so the threat of economic instability often forces women to choose between becoming mothers or earning money.
Unfortunately, under current realities, the realization of the right to have children has been replaced by the so-called “motherhood penalty,” which reflects all the economic disadvantages a woman is forced to endure upon becoming a mother (such as employers’ biases, stereotypes, and discrimination against women who are planning to become mothers or already have children, the burden of unpaid domestic work and childcare falling solely on women, etc.). It is also important to note that the five-day paternity leave, stipulated by the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia, is insufficient to ensure an equal distribution of childcare responsibilities between parents. The implementation of legal reforms to achieve this can be quite difficult, encountering resistance due to gender stereotypes.
The obstacles related to family responsibilities and childcare, unfortunately, do not end here. Despite the fact that discrimination based on marital status, pregnancy, and family obligations is prohibited by the Law of the Republic of Armenia, it remains one of the most widespread forms of labor market discrimination against women, as the existing legal framework does not effectively address gender stereotypes and discrimination in the workplace. This means that even when childcare responsibilities are put on a third party, young women still face fewer employment opportunities due to prevailing stereotypes and discrimination, as evidenced by the questions asked to female candidates during job interviews regarding marital status, number of children, pregnancy planning, and a number of other too personal questions.
VERTICAL AND HORIZONTAL SEGREGATION IN THE LABOR MARKET: INDIVIDUAL CHOICE OR SYSTEMIC DISCRIMINATION?
In Armenia, women mainly work in low-paid sectors, such as public service, education, healthcare and social services. In more highly-paid sectors, such as information technology, men predominate. And although the problem of women’s concentration in low-paid sectors is often attributed to women’s choice or their lack of corresponding abilities, its main reason lies in society’s perceptions of “feminine” and “masculine” professions, which also have an impact on women’s choice of profession. Speaking about this, it is worth noting that such stereotypes stem from school, which signals the need for gender-sensitive professional orientation in schools.
Although women in Armenia have a higher level of education, both in the private and public sectors, 70% of management positions are held by men.
Gender barriers to career ladder in the labor market are often referred to as the “glass ceiling” or “sticky floor syndrome,” as employers’ prejudices that women do not have the same leadership skills as men hinder women’s career advancement. Underrepresentation in leadership positions implies lower salaries, as well as the possibility of being excluded from the decision-making process.
In order to avoid unconscious bias and create fair and equal conditions for the representation of women in leadership positions, today large global corporations have adopted the principle of gender quotas for leadership positions. However, in non-gender-sensitive societies, the issue of quotas generally faces strong resistance, and the fact of including women in leadership positions through quotas is exploited, once again reaffirming skeptical approaches to women’s competence and leadership skills.
Women in leadership positions continue to face double challenges, often being targeted because of their female identity.
While confidence in male leaders is silently accepted and even admired as a trait of a charismatic leader, the same behavior in female leaders is perceived as aggressiveness or arrogance, frequently met with resistance, as it does not align with traditional expectations of how a woman should “normally” behave.
There are also numerous cases where female leaders, due to their higher visibility and publicity, become targets of scrutiny based on their appearance, clothing, personal lives, and whether or not they follow the moral standards set by society. Men usually do not face such problems.
Ignoring all this, we often assume, and why not even claim, that the fact that women do not hold leadership positions is related to their lack of desire. But are the circumstances listed above about equal and fair opportunities?
THE GENDER PAY GAP: OBJECTIVE REALITY OR BIAS?
In Armenia, women’s average monthly salary is 39% lower than that of men. The issues discussed above, such as shorter working hours, concentration in low-paid sectors, and underrepresentation in leadership positions, although having gender basis, can nevertheless lead to a gender pay gap, which implies a difference in the average monthly salary of women and men.
In the context of discussions about the gender pay gap, the fact of intentional or unintentional discrimination is largely ignored. Often, employers justify unequal pay for the same or similar work by stereotyping men as the main breadwinners or as more competent.
Although the difference in educational levels is theoretically considered one of the reasons for the pay gap, it is worth citing the report “Analysis of the Gender Pay Gap and Gender Inequality in the Armenian Labor Market” prepared by the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia in collaboration with UN Women, according to which women working in Armenia have better work characteristics than men, such as education or experience, which means that the gender pay gap in Armenia cannot be justified by the level of education or the competence of men. On the contrary, women’s higher professional qualifications even increase the gap, because, despite having higher educational qualifications, women are paid less.
While explaining some of the gap by a number of factors, in particular, the “glass ceiling syndrome” and women’s shorter working hours, the remaining 10% of the gap is not explained in any way, which the report attributes to a number of unobservable factors, including discrimination.
Even in such countries as Iceland, recognized as a global leader in gender equality indices, they are fighting to eliminate the gender pay gap based on discrimination. “Equal pay for equal work” is the motto of many large corporations, expressing their commitment to the principles of equality and fairness. In a number of European countries, large companies are even obliged to publish the salaries of women and men for the same position, which allows them to identify and eliminate the gender-based pay gap.
However, in Armenia, corporate confidentiality of salaries in the private sector, along with the lack of proper legal regulations, hinders raising awareness, creating statistics, and establishing social justice.
And although according to the Labor Code of the Republic of Armenia, the employer is obliged to pay men and women the same amount for the same or equivalent work, the biased attitude of employers and the institution of the man as the “breadwinner” artificially reduce the salary of a woman, which, due to its invisibility, remains outside the scope of proof.
THE COST OF LOST OPPORTUNITIES FOR WOMEN
From an early age, boys are encouraged to be bold, brave, and leaders, while girls are taught to be reserved, modest, and inconspicuous. By bringing up girls and boys according to the stereotypical rules of behavior attributed to their gender, society may not calculate the income that women lose due to not taking risks: in this case, we are talking about entrepreneurial activity. Even given the risk, women and men do not have equal opportunities to engage in entrepreneurship.
It is no secret that business is considered a “male” activity in the patriarchal system. And although women bravely enter the world of business, they do not receive the same encouragement from their families or society as men do, they are often not perceived as serious partners as men, but at the same time, in case of failure, they are criticized more than men. In this context, the so-called “stereotype threat” psychological phenomenon has emerged, which holds women back from achieving the big goals they set for themselves, based on the fear of being criticized and “confirming” society’s stereotypical beliefs about women. And the fact that “women cannot” is one of the most common stereotypes.
It is obvious that starting a business usually requires financial resources or capital. Do women have property rights? Of course, they do. Can women inherit real estate? Of course, they can. But do they actually inherit their parents’ apartments or other real estate? In most cases, certainly, they do not.
Although according to the Civil Code of the Republic of Armenia, the hereditary transfer of property rights does not imply any gender preference, in patriarchal societies, real estate is passed down from parents to sons from generation to generation. It is also worth noting that not owning real estate or other capital not only creates a situation of dependence on a husband, brother, or other male family member for a woman, but also limits her entrepreneurial activity or its development, particularly in the context of unavailability of business loans.
It is also worth noting the disproportionate impact of gender stereotypes on women affected by conflict in the context of entrepreneurship. Often, taking up an entrepreneurial activity becomes the only income opportunity for women. However, along the way, they face not only the consequences of war, economic instability and scarcity of resources, but also have to overcome various obstacles related to entering the sphere considered “masculine”.
THE DOUBLE WHAMMY OF FINANCIAL INSTABILITY
The link between financial instability and social vulnerability hardly needs reiteration. However, continuing the theme of women not inheriting property and being financially dependent on their husbands, it is worth noting that economic instability also makes women more vulnerable to domestic violence, since one of the main reasons for women not leaving their abusers is the lack of alternative housing. Living free from violence is a fundamental human right and should not be contingent upon an individual’s financial status, as it often exists in capitalist systems. Moreover, it is worth emphasizing that the risk of domestic violence also increases in the post-conflict period, which places displaced/migrant women in a doubly vulnerable situation due to the loss of property and the lack of a stable income.
Unfortunately, the perceptions of “masculinity” and “femininity” attributed to women and men and the gender stereotypes that underlie the above-mentioned inequalities are deeply rooted in society. Although their elimination requires time and consistent efforts, we should mention that it is their realization and the raising of awareness about the problem that can become the starting point of change.
Author:
Nvard Minasyan
Gender Expert,
Socio-Economic and Legal Researcher
