Why do women in Armenia earn less? Research

It is a well-known fact that inequality between men and women in the labor market leads to a gender pay gap, a difference that exists in all countries of the world, including Armenia. The Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia (JCC) annually records the pay gaps between men and women in its “Women and Men” statistical booklet. However, only in 2020, for the first time, a complete study was conducted on this topic, the results of which were presented in the report of the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia “Analysis of Gender Wage Fragment’s Gender Inequality” published by the UN-Women structure.

Previous studies have shown that work experience is possible for pay, and women are more likely to interrupt work than men, especially due to childbirth and childcare. They work fewer hours, instead women spend a significant portion of their time on unpaid housework and care. The caregivers of sick, elderly or disabled family members and children are mainly women. In fact, the role of women as mothers can prevent them from working overtime or accepting long-term business trips, leading to the choice of occupations that provide enough flexibility to care for the family. These are usually lower paid jobs. The low representation of women in leadership positions also leads to a pay gap.

Given these circumstances, the new report submitted by the JCO aimed to understand the structure of the gender pay gap in Armenia so that it is possible to propose legislative changes and other measures to address the problem. The study calculated the so-called “adjusted gender pay gap” in Armenia, which, according to the report, is the difference between the average hourly wages of men and women, taking into account their various achievements, mainly education, as well as other job characteristics.

The gender pay gap is widening

It should be noted that the gender pay gap calculated so far estimated only the net difference between the salaries of men and women. This is called an unspecified or unprocessed gender pay gap because it does not take into account people’s characteristics, first of all, education.

Note that in 2015 According to the Labor Force Survey, the gender-specific unadjusted pay gap was 20%. As evidenced by 2018 According to the data, this gap has widened in the last three years.

Women working in Armenia have a higher level of education than working men

The adjusted gender pay gap in Armenia is 28.4%, which is higher than the unspecified pay gap. This means that working women in Armenia have better job market characteristics (for example, education), but are paid less than working men, and there is some sectoral (or) segregation.

“In the labor market, there is a greater potential for positive choices for women, or, moreover, a higher probability of being elected in the labor market, or unemployed, economically inactive women also have a fairly high level of education. Therefore, it is impossible to explain the gender pay gap in Armenia by the difference between the qualifications of men and women. On the contrary, the gap widens when they are taken into account, “the authors of the report detail.

Women are less likely to hold senior positions, which may be due to the influence of the “glass ceiling” or the fact that women predominate among highly qualified professionals, as well as office workers. Men who predominate in jobs that do not require qualifications. In general, women are more likely than men to work in highly skilled jobs.

Mothers with two children have six times higher levels of non-participation in the labor market than fathers

The report makes a remarkable observation that the hours spent on unpaid housework by women vary depending on their status in the labor market. The same cannot be said of men. Employed women spend 27.5 hours a week on unpaid housework, and women who do not participate in the labor market spend a third more (37.5 hours). On the other hand, men spend about 11 hours a week, regardless of their status in the labor market.

“Glass ceiling” in Armenia

The authors of the report also talk about the impact of the “glass ceiling” in Armenia. They argue that women are less likely to be found in managerial positions, which may be due to the influence of the “glass ceiling” or the fact that women predominate among highly qualified professionals, as well as office workers.

What do the authors of the report suggest?

Based on the findings of the study, experts note that in order to reduce the gender pay gap in Armenia, the government should encourage more women in the labor market, especially since the characteristics of women outside the labor market are not the worst.

It will be necessary to either encourage their participation (for example, through awareness-raising campaigns) or create an appropriate environment (for example, more childcare facilities).

It is proposed to introduce or reformulate a policy that can help reduce the gender pay gap. For example, the promotion of flexible working time policies, as well as the improvement of legislation governing family relations.

Encourage the involvement of women in leadership positions. A special way of implementation is to set gender quotas regulated by law in corporate councils.

Full text and infographics in Armenian