Women in the Armenian labor market. discrimination in numbers and facts 12.08.2021

Two main reasons can be distinguished from the objective and subjective reasons that prevent women from entering the labor market. The first is the lack of opportunities to combine work and caring for family members. Often women are simply unable to return to work after giving birth because the state is unable to solve the problem of preschool children, and the cost of nanny and private kindergarten services is sometimes higher than expected. The second common circumstance in Armenia is the direct prohibition by husband to work. In our country, men often decide where, in what profession and under what conditions a woman will work. Or will she work at all…

The latest data on the involvement of women and men in the labor market by the Statistical Committee of the Republic of Armenia were published in late 2020. They reflect the picture of 2019, ie they do not reflect the impact of the pandemic on the labor market.

In general, statistics reveal two important factors. The first is that although more than half of Armenia’s population’s workforce is women, men outnumber women in terms of labor supply or economic activity in the labor market. Second, although the number of women with higher education is higher, the majority of men in leadership positions are 2.8 times higher than the number of women.

• The share of women in the labor force is 53%, men – 47%, but only 49.6% of women are involved in the labor force (economically active), and 71.7% of men. 40.1% of economically active women and 59.1% of men are employed.
• Unemployment rate in Armenia is the highest in the CIS, reaching 20% in 2020.
• According to the data of 2019, the unemployment rate was 17.5% among men and 19.3% among women. At the same time, there are significant gender differences in the reasons for the unemployment rate. Of the 61,766 officially registered unemployed, 40,974 or more than 66% are women, with long-term unemployment rates being particularly high among women, accounting for 54% of unemployed women.
• 4% of women and 3% of men are out of the labor force (economically inactive). The gender gap is estimated at 43.7%. It is especially high in the 25-49 age group (72.7% -79.1%) and mainly due to the burden of women’s family responsibilities (pregnancy, childbirth, child and care for the elderly, household, etc.).
• In contrast, the gap is low in the 15-24 age group at 7.5%, which is due to the almost equal inclusion of young girls and boys in education.
• At the same time, almost 42% of young women aged 15-29 and 21% of young men do not study or work.
• In general, in 2019, 50% of women aged 15-74 did not have a job and did not look for a job, mainly being engaged in housework.
• The majority of economically inactive women are housewives, and 40% of these women have higher or secondary vocational education.
• 99% of those who do not work due to family circumstances are women, which indicates that the means of state support in combining family responsibilities and careers are insufficient.
• The reasons for women not working are related to the problem of low enrollment of children in preschool institutions. 2019 According to the data, the enrollment of children in pre-school institutions reaches 60% (out of the population aged 0-5). At the same time, the enrollment among children aged 0-2 remains extremely low, amounting to only 4.8%.
• In 2019, the average salary was 182,673 AMD, for women it was 145,198 AMD, for men – 222,510 AMD. The difference between female / male salaries is 34.7%, or the level of education is higher for women. 31.2% of Armenia’s labor resources have higher education, 35.2% of women and 28% of men.in the labor force have higher education,
• Both women and men are mostly hired workers. The majority of employers and self-employed are men, while among unpaid workers, women are twice as likely as men.
• Women do most of the unpaid household work that is not valued or reflected in the national accounting system.

Due to the restriction of women’s labor and discrimination against them in the labor market, Armenia loses significant amounts in the annual gross domestic product, even in approximate estimates.

Full text in Armenian