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IWS Documented News Service
_______________________________
Institute for Workplace Studies                 Professor Samuel B. Bacharach
School of Industrial & Labor Relations          Director, Institute for Workplace Studies
Cornell University
16 East 34th Street, 4th floor                  Stuart Basefsky
New York, NY 10016                      Director, IWS News Bureau
________________________________________________________________________

European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (Dublin Foundation)
Working Conditions Publications

Working conditions and gender in an enlarged Europe [February 2005]
http://www.eurofound.eu.int/publications/files/EF04138EN.pdf
[full-text, 88 pages]
Author: Pollert, Anna and Foder, Eva
Summary:
This report presents a comparative study of working conditions for women in 10 central eastern European countries and its purpose is threefold: to bring together the findings of the national reports; to explore in greater detail the Foundation data in terms of comparison between its 2001 survey of the acceding and candidate countries and its 2000 survey of the EU15; and to use the national reports to evaluate the Foundation findings.
Pages: 88
Reference: EF04138
ISBN: 92-897-0907-3
Published: 2005

[excerpt]
Significant socio-economic transition in central and eastern European countries in recent decades
has impacted significantly on the working conditions and quality of life for both women and men.
With the enlargement of the European Union in 2004 which embraced eight of these formerly
communist countries and with Bulgaria and Romania preparing to join the EU in the coming years,
these changes are also set to have implications for policymakers in the new enlarged European
Union. As a result, there is a very real need for a comprehensive overview of the situation in this
domain.

On the basis of national reports and Foundation survey analysis, this report, Working conditions
and gender in an enlarged Europe presents a comparative study of working conditions for women
in these 10 central and eastern European countries (CEECs). The evidence shows that, broadly, the
situation of women in these countries today is similar to that in western Europe in terms of gender
segregation. However, some interesting differences emerge, such as the rapid increase in private
service sector employment for men in all CEECs ­ a far greater increase than for women.
As for the pay gap, few countries have improved on their early 1990s position, which appears to
suggest that the last decade of a market economy has done little for women’s progress towards
equal pay.

As this important debate continues across Europe, we trust this report will offer a useful perspective
on working conditions and gender in an enlarged Europe.

Contents
Foreword v
Introduction 1
1 ­ Demographic, economic, and employment trends 3
2 ­ Gender segregation 13
3 ­ Gender inequality in the labour market 31
4 ­ Working and raising a family 39
5 ­ Gender equality policies 43
6 ­ Gender and employment: industrial relations context 51
7 ­ Conclusions 57
Bibliography 61
Appendix 63
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Stuart Basefsky                 *
Director, IWS News Bureau               *
Institute for Workplace Studies *
Cornell/ILR School                      *
16 E. 34th Street, 4th Floor            *
New York, NY 10016                      *
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Telephone: (607) 255-2703               *
Fax: (607) 255-9641                     *
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# posted by SBasefsky : 5:50 PM