10 facts about the inequality of women and men in the labor market

1. The share of women in Armenia’s labor resources is 55%, but 52.5% of women are economically active, and 71.2 %, of men, while gender-gap between men’s and women’s activeness is 40% in the 25-34 age group , which is largely due to women’s family responsibilities (pregnancy, childbirth, child care, etc.).
2. Unemployment rate in Armenia is highest among CIS countries According to the ILO data; it is 20.2% among women and 16.4% among men. At the same time there are significant gender differences between the duration of unemployment and the reasons of not working. Of the officially registered unemployed, 67.8% are women, and the long-term (over 3 years) unemployment rate is particularly high among women.
3. Young people (16-30 years old) remain in the labor market as a stable vulnerable group, with 47.9% of economic activity, 30.3% of employment and 36.7% unemployment, respectively. According to the data of 2016, almost 47% of the 15-29 year old female youth and 23% of the male population do not study or work.
4. According to the data of 2016, the average monthly nominal salary (earnings) of women in Armenia was 66.4% of men’s earnings, or the gender gap was 33.6%. At the global level, this gap is 23% on average. Due to the difficulties in women’s professional advancement, higher education levels are not always a mitigating gender-gap in salaries. Men in executive positions exceed women by 2.4 times.
5. There are also gender differences in pensions, although the RA Law on State Pensions has set a unified age for men and women – 63 years. In 2016, the average pension amount for women was 39,165 AMD and- 42,331 AMD for men.
6. Of the economically inactive population, 33% are men and 67% are women. Most economically inactive women are housewives. In 2016, 47% of 15-75 year old women did not work and did not look for it mostly being engaged in household activities.
7. Among the obstacles to finding a job, both men and women mention the lack of jobs in the first place. At the second place for women is insufficient work experience and lower wages for men. Women make great percentage (70%) among those who do not have any hope they will find any job.
8. The means of state support in combining family responsibilities and career are insufficient, as evidenced by the fact that 98% of those who do not work due to family circumstances are women.
9. 2016 the poverty rate in Armenia was 29.4%, 1.8% of them were extremely poor, and 8.0% were very poor. 56.6% of the poor are women, and 43.4% are men.
10. According to the Armenian Republican Council of Entrepreneurs, the share of women in large, medium and small businesses does not exceed 10%. The share of women in micro business is greater than 20-25%.

By the way, research shows that 62% of men and 56% of women fully agree with the judgment that when there are few jobs, men should have wider rights to work than women.