強(qiáng)調(diào)性別歧視的資料
 

本研究的主要任務(wù)是為強(qiáng)調(diào)在波黑勞動力市場性別歧視提供特定的信息。dissertation使用了描述性統(tǒng)計方法，目的是可以推動發(fā)現(xiàn)女性歧視以及成為勞動力市場最脆弱的部分的原因。分析了從2006年到2012年波斯尼亞和黑塞哥維那統(tǒng)計機(jī)構(gòu)出版的統(tǒng)計數(shù)據(jù)。我們將嘗試解釋歧視的主要原因是極低的活動率，以及會解釋性別歧視在所有領(lǐng)域進(jìn)一步導(dǎo)致的后果。這其中會包括各種原因：從文化和歷史背景到政府對性別平等法律的實施。在過去的七年里，政府促進(jìn)了性別平等的法律，這對減少女性失業(yè)率起到了作用，但活動率仍然沒有改變。不同經(jīng)濟(jì)部門，主要是在農(nóng)業(yè)部門的性別歧視主要體現(xiàn)在每周工作時間上，這直接影響了工資不相稱。此外女性人口中參與非官方的經(jīng)濟(jì)活動更加擴(kuò)大了歧視的差距。

 

Information Emphasized On Gender Discrimination Economics Essay

 

Main priority of the study is to provide particular information emphasized on gender discrimination in the BiH labor market. Paper is based on the descriptive statistics approach with intention to promote causes and most fragile segments of female discrimination in the labor market. Analysis includes data provided by Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2006 up to 2012 published. We will try to explain main cause of discrimination which is based on extremely low activity rate that further creates additional consequences in all segments. Various reasons are included from cultural and historical background up to government implementation of gender equity laws. In the last seven years government promotion of gender equity laws made impact on reduction of unemployment rate among female population but activity rate remained unchanged. The discrimination in different economic sectors based on hours per week worked is mostly present in agricultural sector which directly effects wage disproportion. Also the participation of female population in the unofficial economy additionally enlarges discrimination gap. Education issues were also included where we have found that in the segment of high education gender discrimination is not present but on contrary since Bologna process was introduced the degree of females graduated increased and it completely fits the rate of female employment. Social protection system proved to be safe from gender inequality since the rate of females that use social protection is higher than males. This seems be one of the reasons for low activity rate of females.

 

Keywords: labor market, discrimination, education, social protection, gender

 

INTRODUCTION

 

Usually when we take into consideration gender discrimination in the labor market it is implied to the wage gap. In this paper we will not deal with wage or income difference but on contrary we will try to make specific descriptive analysis of the labor market and level of education throughout certain period of time. In particular the data from 2006 up to 2012 provided by Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina will be included. It is also important to announce that all data are collected throughout Federal Institute of Statistics (FZS), Republic Institute of Statistics of the Republic of Srpska (RZSRS) and throughout particular institutions in District of Brcko which actually does not represent significant segment demographically or territorially.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

In order to create valid and generally descriptive results we will try to focus on most significant segments of the labor market which generate greatest gaps and inequality between male and female. First it is important to specify characteristics of the labor market that provide us clear picture of the workforce participation. When this point is approached form the right angle it is going to be much easier to specify market segmentation and to evaluate which segments are least available for the female and why? Analysis of education level throughout time is quite significant since Bologna process obviously generated positive impact on female population regarding graduation rates. These data will be showed later on in the descriptive part of the analysis.

 

Particular laws and regulations intended to promote position of female in the labor market and in the society but applications of those same regulations are not satisfactory. There should be invested a lot more effort by government officials in order to create favorable environment that will equalize labor standards for both genders. In general as we will see throughout statistical representation of data large portion of female that belong to the work age population have tendency to be inactive and out of labor force. There might be various reasons for such occurrence and one of them is traditional role of female in the society. It is important to insist on constant education of young population to understand that role of female in the labor market is equally important as male for the diversification of ideas and overall productivity.

 

Since the main principles of the BiH’s society are based on the partial social system it can be also important to include into analysis level of social protection with respect to genders since social measurements are directly correlated with employment and large portion of benefits paid for each salary by employer. This segment can provide us more specific picture of female representation in the labor market.

 

Taken into consideration that Bosnian society have gone through rough period in the mid-nineties gender equality topics were not of high priority at that time. Transitional period also created negative impact on gender equality popularization since economic issues were of greater priority. Eventually female population got more rights and involvement in the workforce. The problems that woman face in the Bosnian society can be referred as second order discrimination. According to the Bailyn (2006) second order discrimination is based on the assumption that state institutions neglect current gender oriented laws and regulations which already exist and also turn toward those practices that unintentionally promote traditional role of man. This practice additionally disadvantages female and disables promotion of gender equality in the labor market.

 

The position of women in the labor market will be analyzed from the statistical perspective in order to create representative image of their current position with respect to education, professions and social protection participation.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

LITERATURE REVIEW

 

In order to explain goals of the research it is important to accentuate the importance of equalization of all standards for both genders in the labor market. The position of female is quite unenviable in the Bosnian society which creates additional negative impact on the economy. Gender equality is directly related to human rights and economic prosperity and elimination of gender favorable policies is highly important for reduction of poverty and further economic development (Krupalija, 2011). This perspective can explain current deficiency in the BiH’s labor market that is already destabilized and governed by significant trade deficits. High rate of poverty can also be taken into consideration which amount up to 18.6% in 2011. Almost one fifth of the population is considered to be under the relative poverty lie.

 

As mentioned in the introductory part the European Commission created gender mainstreaming approach in 1996 (European Commission, 2008) that was not quite well implemented in BiH since it was the first post war year. It actually took some time for all those laws and regulations to reach our country and get included into legislation. Current measurement do not only intend to promote gender equality on rhetorical base but it also try to impose budget reforms that will generate greater portion for gender equality promotion.

 

Related to the education level we were able to see that in the paper written by Ian et al., (2012) females have lower tendency to get overeducated after their graduation. This similar example will be explained on available data where we can also see lower tendency of female toward Master and PhD title. Reasons are universal and based on maternity issue but on the other side we again face traditional role of female in the Bosnian society and their lower participation rate in the labor market.

 

Social protection represents relatively new and not well understood practice in the capitalist countries. Taking into consideration that BiH has recently transferred from socialism to capitalism our people are quite familiar with social measurements and protection standards. Even now large portion of salary is being extracted in the form of additional benefits that serve as social security. Unlike in Western countries where people pay their own insurance here in Bosnia it is already included as portion of gross wage. This segment can be used as significant variable to show us female participation in the labor market. This brings us to the point where female have restricted access to the labor market, more insecure from of wages which is usually oriented toward grey economy where social protection does not exist (Thakur et al, 2009). In the research done by Luttrell et al., in 2004 it is again mentioned that female tend to be excluded from the social protection programs due to the lower rate of participation in the formal market and higher in the informal. Once again we face discrimination issues related to direct impact of inappropriate gender equity laws and regulations. This practice is quite common in BiH.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

The path toward gender equality represents long and intense process that depends on various circumstances at social, global, regional and local level (Svetlin, 2009). Social segment could be considered as crucial since it is based on cultural issues and attitudes of public toward position of female in the society. Compared to the other European countries we may say that organizations for female rights do not endeavor as much their optimum potential is to promote gender equality and woman rights. Maybe it is due to the restricted funds provided by the government but on the other side there are significant amount of unconventional funds provided by international organization for the same purpose. Many of those programs are designed and directly supported by the World Bank as one of the leaders in this area. Government institutions do implement various programs and gender equality laws on all organizational levels but without additional promotion and education of new generations it will not create desired impact.

 

One interesting fact is related to the previous global recession. We face different opinions related to the position of female in the labor market during the recession and impact it caused on gender inequality. Based on the research by Smith in 2009 it is said that early signs do show negative impact on the female employment rate during the crises. We will also be able to analyze data from this period and create our standpoint related to the position of female in the Bosnian labor market during the recession and upcoming consequences. The recession also represented a potential chance for promotion of gender equalities. The role of female was seen as quite important for the stabilization of financial crises but not crucial. Higher number of females is necessary as the portion of financial governance but it is not sufficient to promote collective over private interests in the financial sector (Young et al., 2010). Taking into consideration that we are not provided with position of females in the financial sector in BiH it is going to be hard to make any assumptions related to the role of female and their participation in financial institutions at executive functions during the financial crises.

 

Regarding the percentage change in job loss male population was damaged more but again we have to take into consideration that female rate of employment rose significantly in the last fifteen years (Villa et al., 2009). Male population has gone through similar situations historically but females never did. Position of woman in the labor market was never more favorable since the beginning of the world and by so they have a lot more to lose. Most important factor regarding female protection is related to government laws and regulations that will be intensified and even more focused on gender equality issues.

 

It is a fact that females are neglected in the government institutions because in 2011 only 9 out of 42 representatives in the House of Representatives were female and in the Council of Ministers out of nine positions not even one was appointed to a woman (Krupalija, 2011). These data are related for the state government but in the Federal and RS government situation is not more favorable for females.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Study provided by USAID BiH in 2005 emphasized on particular disadvantages related to the gender equality. Research showed extremely low level of female participation in the political life which did not change dramatically up to this moment. Another issue was related to implementation and promotion of Gender Equity Laws. This can be considered as one segment that did take palace because our government in the last seven years accepted and implemented various number of gender equity laws due to the intense initiative of European Union. Last initiative was based on low level of labor force participation that is still stagnating. We will use descriptive statistics to explain rate of labor force participation and try to explain reasons. These three segments are mutually correlated and interdependent because labor force participation can be directly dependent on gender equity laws. The participation of females in the political life is crucial for promotion of their rights and represents main point for gender equality standards.

 

DATA AND METHODOLOGY

 

During the analysis of female participation in the labor market and potential causes of discrimination we will mostly use descriptive statistics approach. The data are provided by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina collected throughout official LFS – Labor Force Survey which follows general pattern created by ILO – International Labor Organization and EUROSTAT – European Statistical Office. .

 

Throughout labor force survey we are able to specify those types of data that show gender position during the period from 2006 up to 2012. Final results of 2012 LFS were recently published. It is also important to mention that that Agency for Statistics BiH processes those data provided by FOS – Federal Office of Statistics and RZSRS – Republic Institute of Statistics of the Republic of Srpska which also includes data collected in Brcko District.

 

Each LFS survey is being conducted throughout the year and approximately 10.000,00 households is being questioned in both entities and District of Brcko. Taking into consideration that Federation is larger entity with larger population and higher state of economic development usually 58% up t 60% of households is taken form this entity, 30-35 percent is taken from Republic of Srpska and the rest from Brcko District.

 

Another segment of the research is based on the Household Budget Survey which is done every two years by Agency for statistics BiH. This survey will enable us to reach certain data related to the social protection issues.

 

It is also important to identify crucial terminology mentioned in both surveys. Gender equity refers to the equal opportunities, responsibilities and rights with respect to their differences. Gender equity on the other side explains equal participation in all segments of public and private life. Household is defined as community or family stationed at one living space sharing their income in order to cover costs of living at that same place (AFSBiH, 2011) [1] . Working age population includes all which are 15 years and older. Here we have two subgroups: labor force and those individuals that are economically active and inactive population. Further, labor force is consisted of those with employment and unemployed population. The employed population can include all individuals that are 15 years and older that have worked at least one hour for any amount of salary and those that did not work but still have job that waits for them to return to (AFSBiH, 2012) [2] .#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

DISCUSSION

 

Now we will proceed with analysis of the descriptive statistics which was collected throughout last seven years. All of the data are provided by the Agency for Statistics of Bosnia and Herzegovina collected throughout LFS-Labor Force Survey and . In the first segment of the analysis we are going to deal with general labor characteristics and activity rates for both genders. Based on results seen form the tables we are going to make comparative analysis of trends related to labor force participation, unemployment rates and level of inactive female population with respect to males. First section also includes movement of trends in different sections of economic activities: agricultural, industrial and service sector. This proved to be important in order to explain the role of female in economic development of country. If females were discriminated in any of these sectors there could be a possibility to influence and promote females in order to upgrade economic efficiency. The amount of hours spent at work per week can actually show us if females were discriminated on the wage base. As it is already mentioned there is possibility that females work equal amount of time as men but the difference showed may refer to the informal status that creates consequences throughout social protection and pension on the long run.

 

The issue of education seems quite important for the analysis since the rate of female employed in accordance to the level of education varies. Bologna process also made significant impact on the level of education of females and graduation rate. Number of females that graduate annually increased in much higher rate than males in the last three years period. Since we have faced global economic crises in 2009 we will also check the ratio of graduated females and rate of those with employment compared to total amount of female population employed.

 

The last part of the analysis will be focused on the social protection and level of females that used any type of social protection throughout time. The ratio can be significant determinant for level of discrimination since it is directly related to the system of employment where benefits are calculated as portion of gross wage. Also those individuals that are considered as unemployed still have right for the social protection up to certain amount of time. As long as you are applied at the bureau for unemployment you will have right to use services of social protection system. If the individual is rated as inactive and not looking for job than all social protection privileges are being canceled. As we have mentioned the rate of inactivity in female population is quite high which means that large portion of females does not acquire right to use social protection programs.

 

Issues of female participation in the labor market

 

Particular characteristics related to the gender discrimination in the labor market can be only explained by dealing with descriptive statistics. Unlike wage discrimination analysis that is exclusively based on difference in amount of earnings per male and female here we will be able to see labor participation rate in the labor market and to determine potential causes of discrimination throughout time. Based on the LFS survey that includes sample of 10.000,00 households we have created table that provides us with necessary information. In the TableI we can see changes in amount of male and female population throughout last seven years. Regarding the changes in amount of working age population we can see that both male and female working age population slightly decreased in 2012 up to 9 t0 10 %. But if look closely it is obvious that decrease in sample of total population created that effect which will not have significant influence on the further analysis.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Changes in the labor force were not significant which means that population of females throughout time did not express any improvements and compared to males they are even in more favorable position. Main issue that concerns us is number of inactive female individuals compared to males. In the literature revive we have named different reasons for such situation. The main one is related to cultural stereotypes where female is traditionally seen as housewife and mother that is supposed to raise children and take care of home. In are cases females are taking position as head of household. This practice is directly reflected in the labor market.

 

In the Table II we can see the rates and changes through time. Activity rate of females decrease but when compared to male population there is similar trend. This trend is directly related to changes in unemployment rate. Previously the effect of global economic crises was discussed. As it is noticeable female population had positive trend up to 2009 when crises took its toe. It is possible that particular gender equity laws and regulations created positive impact taking into consideration that most of those laws started to be implemented after 2006. Again the impact of crises created negative consequences for male and female regarding unemployment but it is obvious that female population had more to lose since their position historically seen was never better. The main issue represent extremely low activity rate among females. Activity rate on average in the last seven years among mails was approximatelly56 % while female population had activity rate up to 31%. In this segment females are being indirectly discriminated since they do not get chance to participate in the labor force.

 

According to Bailyn (2006) this phenomenon can be referred as second order discrimination where government institutions neglect application of already existing equity laws and regulations. It seems unrealistic that activity rate of male population is double the rate of females. This brings us to the conclusion that it is absolutely necessary to educate young population and to promote female participation in economic life cycles. In order to promote diversity in the labor market and to promote economic efficiency it is necessary to engage larger amount of females. The traditional role of female still represents psychological barrier especially in the rural areas. Urban areas are more protected from this negative trend where male is assumed to be head of household in any case. Equality may seem present but only in urban areas that include 40 % of the overall population.

 

Also we may refer to the fact that unofficial economy is booming in BiH. According to the general data level of unemployment in Bosnia is almost 45%. Realistic picture would be 25% due to the black market and unofficial economy. We can assume that 50 percent that that economically active populations in the unofficial economy are females. By so that portion of population is automatically discriminated due to the lack of social and pension insurance which is usually deducted from the gross wage. In that case women are directly discriminated. My assumption is those great portions of female population that participate in the unofficial economy are based in rural areas. They usually participate in the agricultural sector. On other feature is that all those women are not well educated and do not cope well with their rights. On the other side we have service sector that takes largest portion of the labor market as can be seen in the Table III. Half of the services provided are located in the urban areas. The issue related to the unofficial economy is that unemployment rate is extremely high and people accept any kind of job regardless of the conditions as long as they receive any salary. Once again males are in more favorable position since they are historically seen as more capable. Even in the grey market women are being discriminated and that is one of the reasons why they are not able to accomplish their rights. Female in general in BiH society did not have favorable position. It can also be due to the religion especially in those areas where majority of population are Muslims. Islam treats female different that man and does not provide equal rights in many segments. Although Bosnia promotes secular system religion has deep historical roots since the time of Ottomans and it has great importance in the society. Industrial sector has low rate of women participating but this situation is absolutely normal and acceptable since situation in developed countries is quite similar. Still we came up to the conclusion that females are being discriminated in accordance to overall activity rate.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

In addition to the current analysis we will mention the weekly hours worked in main economic sectors. In the Table IV the data show disproportion of weekly hours worked. For example in agricultural sector males work 7 hours more per week which is almost equivalent to one working day. Taking into consideration that most of the agricultural sector is defined as self-employment area that is the reason. Once again females are being discriminated on the amount of hours they work which means they will earn less. And their chance to earn more is restricted since the men are more favored in this branch. In industrial sector situation is egalitarian since most of the factories are privately own by various entrepreneurs and they do realize the importance of female participation in the labor force. Based on the hours per week worked this economic section is least exposed to discrimination. But once again we have to mention that rate of females in industrial sector is quite low up to 17 % compared to the male population where rate reaches up to 40 %. Service sector is considered to be most egalitarian with respect to rate of participation and hours per week worked where .by so we can say that discrimination in this sector is at lowest level and can be considered as socially acceptable. Socially acceptable means that ratio of male and female population is almost at the same level. No historical, cultural prejudice or government irresponsibility can be related to gender participation inequality.

 

Educational issues related to the labor market discrimination

 

Education is extremely important when it comes to the emancipation of women. Emancipation is directly important for reduction of gender discrimination in the labor market. This is the point where females take over control and make use of all gender equity laws that enable them to get equal treatment in the labor market as males. In the Table V we can see the number of male and female that enrolled universities from 2006 up to 2011. The numbers constantly go in favor of female population. We have already mentioned the influence of Bologna process on gender equity promotion. The process had a goal to intensify participation of students in the educational processes and to promote their cooperative skills necessary for upgrading of overall level of productivity and effectiveness.

 

It seems that since Bologna process was introduced and became operative that rate of graduation of females over males significantly increased. The data show that in 2011, 4.2 % more females graduated. This data tells us that 4.281,00 more females graduated than males. This positive trend in favor of female population is in constant just in the last three years it started to rise even faster. Table VI consist data related to rates of those employed according to the education level. We can see that rates actually fit graduation rates of females with high education employed since the average difference is 7.4% in favor of females. The discrimination in this segment does not exist. This conclusion is derived from the fact that mots females graduate economics, law or similar colleges that classifies them in the service sector. According to the previous analysis we may say that discrimination in accordance to level of education and employment does not exist in BiH. Another issue that we have mentioned in the literature review is related to post graduate studies. The trend in this segment is still constant with one exception that rate of males over female with master degree slightly decreased in the last three years. Individuals with PhD are still in favor of male population but similar trend is in other western country which does not represent any gender discrimination issue that needs to be reconsidered.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

Social protection issue

 

Finally the issue of social protection will be analyzed from the perspective of discrimination. The system of state setup is socially oriented and most of the population is directly dependent on it. Social protection is one of the crucial human rights which are defined in the basic instruments for human rights protection. It is a well-known fact that social benefits are not properly distributed and that only 17 percent of those that really need it actually get that same help while the rest is distributed to those that do not live under the relative poverty line.

 

This issue was many times mentioned by the World Bank as a main burden of our budget (OSCE, 2012). In the table VII we can see the number of users of social protection throughout time. The number of females is followed by increasing trend which also exceeds number of male users. This can help us to explain the issue of low activity rate of female population. Number of male users would be much lower but due to the war that erupted in 1990’es most of male population that participated in the army have right for some kind of social protection. Females do not have same excuse except of those that ended as widows during the war. According to these data we do not see any potential discrimination but on contrary we see greater budget burden created by female population. This population does not participate in the labor market and odes not contribute toward promotion economic efficiency.

 

CONCLUSION

 

Throughout analysis we were able to see that gender discrimination in BiH can be observed from various perspectives. Different causes create various long term consequences for the Bosnian society. During the analysis of characteristics of population in the labor market we were able to see that main issue was related to the extremely low activity rate of females with respect to males. Crucial causes of any further labor market discrimination are related to this phenomenon. Main explanation is based on cultural background of the country where traditional role of female still did not change. This problem is especially related to rural areas where rate of activity is much lower than in the urban areas. Also employment rate of economically active females is much lower than males. Reason could be linked to low promotion of gender equity rights but again in the last seven years our government has started to implement dozens of gender equity laws and policies. It may be a matter of rhetoric’s just to maintain stability, but in practice little has been done. Taking into consideration low rate of economic activity in female population it is necessary to make certain structural changes. Government should promote female employment and invest additional funds to motivate them .In the analysis we have mentioned the problem of female participation in the unofficial economy that create negative impact for our fiscal system. If we were able to reduce grey market participation by half our unemployment rate would decrease significantly and budget deficit would be proportionally reduced. In one hand discrimination based on hours per week worked showed us that in general females’ wok less that directly reflects disproportion of their wages. We were able to see that this problem is mostly present in the agricultural sector since the difference in hours worked per week is highest compared to other sectors. There is a valid suspicion that females in agricultural sector work more but unofficially that additionally discriminates their position.#p#分頁標(biāo)題#e#

 

It is necessary to realize the importance of labor market diversity form the gender perspective and its impact on overall productivity. By so participation of females in the labor market in BiH is necessary for economic prosperity.

 

The impact of gender discrimination from educational perspective was also debated. We came up to the conclusion that gender discrimination in this segment does not occur since the ratio of females that have graduated fits their rate of employment. Bologna process created positive impact on female graduation rate and also increased their participation rate in the labor market. We do not face the same issue with highly educated females in urban areas as we face in general related to low activity rate.

 

Last segment of the analysis was based on social protection program where we have realized that female population is not discriminated but on contrary those social benefits may represent barrier for motivation of females to participate in the labor force.