Plus for Women 45 A Progress Report on the Slovak DP

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Plus for Women 45A Progress Report on the
Slovak DP

• Kaunas, 29th April 2006

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National Partners

• Institute for Public Affairs (www.ivo.sk)
• The FOCUS Agency (www.focus-research.sk)
• EsFem (www.esfem.sk)
• Hlava 98 (Head 98) (www.hlava98.sk)

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Project Objectives

• To study gender and age stereotypes and to learn
  more about the work and life of women 45
• To increase gender and age sensitivity in Slovak
  society
• To empower women 45 and to indirectly improve
  their working conditions and job opportunities.

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Project Activities

• Research of gender and age stereotypes and other
  specific conditions that influence work
  conditions and job opportunities of women 45
• Gender and age sensitive education of select
  target groups
• Social campaign combating gender and age
  stereotypes about women 45

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Research Activities

• Analysis of statistical data and secondary
  analysis of sociological data on women 45
• Representative surveys of work life of women
  45 and of gender and age stereotypes
• Focus groups analyzing work life of various
  segments of women 45
• Content analysis of gender and age stereotypes in
  media
• Case studies of job opportunites of women 45 in
  concrete settings of a town, region or company

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Slovak Women in Statistics (Select results)

• Women represent 46 of labor force.
• Women have a stronger presence in the public
  sector (53), in contrast with the private sector
  (43).
• Women are underrepresented among self-employed
  (28), entrepreneurs without employees (27) and
  with employees (26).
• Working women have a more favorable educational
  structure than men.
• In 2005, women earned 28 less than men.

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45 of registered unemployed are women.

• Women with lower education are the most afflicted
  by unemployment.
• The percentage of long-term unemployed women has
  increased.

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Although women 45-64 outnumber men, their
participation in labor force is significantly
lower.
Men and women and employed men and women (2003 -
in thousands)
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The percentage of unemployed women 45 among all
unemployed women has increased.

• While in 1996, women 45 represented 13 of all
  unemployed women, their number increased to 24
  in 2003.
• Since then, the retirement age of Slovak women
  has been raised by the law. However, job
  opportunities for women 55 have remained the
  same.

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Slovak women 45-55 earn 30 less than men.

• Among workers 55-59, the gender wage gap is 23.
• The lowest gender wage gap (13 18) is in the
  youngest age categories (15-29 years).

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B. Representative Sociological Surveys

• Omnibus 1 September 2005
• Exclusive sociological survey July 2006
• Omnibus 2 November 2006

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Prevailing public opinion unequal chances of
Slovak women and men on labor market.
What are the opportunities of women on labor
market , as compared with those of men? ()
Source Institute for Public Affairs and FOCUS,
September 2005.
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70 of women, but only 44 of men disapprove of
the preferential treatment of men on labor market.
How do you perceive the preferential treatment
of men on labor market? ()
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Education increases mens disapproval of gender
discrimination.
How do you perceive the preferential treatment
of men on labor market? (I approve of it I
disapprove of it Dont know There is no
preferential treatment of men - )
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The hierarchy of inequalities on labor market
Are people in Slovakia disadvantaged or
discriminated against on the labor market because
of the following reasons? ()
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Unequal chances of job applicants women of each
age are perceived as more disadvantaged than men.
What is the usual practice in private
corporations in Slovakia? Which three categories
of the job applicants have the lowest chance to
get a job? ()
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Family expectations are a barrier of womens
later retirement.
Normative ideas about womens role in family ()
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C. Focus groups with women 45 in seven regions
of Slovakia

• Working women blue collar workers with
  elementary education, aged 45 - 65
• Working women white collar workers with
  secondary education, aged 45 - 65
• Working women professionals with university
  education, aged 45 - 65
• Unemployed women with various level of education,
  aged 45-55.

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Scenario of focus groups

• A. Work
• B. Family and household
• C Retirement
• D. Perception of life cycle and ageing
• E. Women as role models
• F. Are women stronger or weaker than men?

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D. Content Analysis of Gender and Age Stereotypes
in Media

• Dailies
• Magazines
• TV spots advertising new pension savings

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Content analysis of dailies preliminary results
of analysis

• Slovak dailies ignore the existence of women
  45-60.
• Women 45 are rarely presented as successful role
  models.
• Ageing workers are usually portrayed as
  inflexible, unwilling to learn, burdened with
  family obligations.
• Articles presenting active ageing are very rare.
  Pensioners are usually portrayed as passive,
  helpless, vulnerable,dependent from the state and
  confined to the private sphere.

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TV spots preliminary results of analysis

• Men are more present in the spots than women.
• The spots are based on traditional perception of
  mens and womens roles and on the dichotomy of
  public and private sphere.
• In order to present the credibility of the
  insurance companies, images of male professionals
  are used.
• When portraying the life after retirement,
  womens activities are limited to private sphere
  - shopping, cooking, playing with grandchildren,
  supporting their partner, etc. while men enjoy
  their hobbies.

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Dissemination of research findings

• Four publications in Slovak, with an English
  summary (2006 2007)
• Book in Slovak and lecturediscussion tour in
  Slovakia (2007-2008)
• Book in English (2008)
• International Conference in Bratislava (May 2007)
• Gender and age sensitive education of select
  target groups (2006-2007)
• Social campaign combating gender and age
  stereotypes (2006-2007)

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Gender and Age Sensitive Education of Select
Target Groups

• Members of the Committee for Equal Opportunities
  of the Confederation of Slovak Trade Unions
• Students and teachers of journalism and media
  communication
• Members of local partnerships of social inclusion

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Gender training of the trade union
representatives Four three-day seminars aimed
at

• Increasing their information and knowledge
• Providing expert knowledge and know-how
  applicable in their negotiations about the
  collective agreements
• Strengthening their capacities as trainers and
  multiplicators.

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• Thank you for your attention.
• Zora Butorova

www.ivo.sk