Reconciling work and family and government policy Notes about conditions, intentions, measures and reality in the Czec

1. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 1 Reconciling work and familyand government policy Notes about conditions, intentions, measures and reality in the Czech Republic Vera Kucharova Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs Prague, Czech Republic

2. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 2 Basic topics: Labour market and working conditions Awareness of questions related to equal opportunities in work life Employment policy and Labour Code Supporting families: parental leave, family benefits, child care provisions Summary

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12. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 12 Distribution of men�s (black dash curve) and women�s gross wages (thousands Czech crowns) and average wages (vertical lines) in 2003 [data and graph from the Czech Statistical Office]

13. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 13 Earnings inequality � cont. Basic principles are stated by the Labour Code A legal basis for equal pay was introduced by Act on wages in 1992, the last amendment in 2000 While the Labour Code is valid generally, the Act on Wages applies only to public sector � the private sector is less controlled and the gender wage gap is more significant

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15. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 15 Awareness of equal opportunities in work life Largely gender neutral legal provisions concerning labour, family and social security - but different impacts on men and women Weak awareness of gender equality questions among the public in general Legacies of the communist period: Low representation of women in the ranks of management and in better paid jobs Feminization of some employment sectors or occupations (education, social services, textile industry)

16. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 16 Awareness of equal opportunities in work life - cont. However: The communist state assisted women in harmonizing family and work: provisions in housing, nurseries But at the same time: mothers were forced to employment to some extent, mainly by low and levelled earnings and the �right to work� There were limited chances for one�s choice of occupation and specialization as well as a family life-style Women were forced also to formal political participation

17. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 17 Awareness of equal opportunities in work life - cont. Present situation: More freedom in occupational choice (higher dependence on individual characteristics contrary to former external influences) is accompanied by �new� inequalities on the LM that afflict: Older women with obsolete qualification Mothers of babies and young children (returning from maternity/parental leave) Women living in regions with economic difficulties due to economic transformation or with high unemployment rate

18. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 18 Awareness of equal opportunities in work life - cont. Government policy Importance and contemporary impacts of gender differences were recognized at the government level with some time lag compared to changing labour market and women�s NGO�s activities Big influence of international organizations played a significant role � UN, EU + NGOs Still it was �advanced� in comparison with the prevailing general public�s awareness of gender issues - often did not understand well new measures introduced by the government � some were implemented �from the top�

19. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 19 Awareness of equal opportunities in work life - cont. Development of provisions in favour of equal opportunities continued basically from indirect to more direct measures Another barrier to governments� support for harmonization of work and family - lack of consistent and long-term family policy (serious intentions date from 2000) Mechanisms for promotion of the equal opportunities were installed at the governmental and parliament level in the late 1990s. The present most important are: Government Council for Equal Opportunities for Men and Women; a group for equal opportunities under the Government Council for Human Rights

20. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 20 Awareness of equal opportunities in work life - cont. Basic government measures for improvement of the equal opportunities conditions at employment, that are in operation at present are included in: National Action Plan in Employment for the period 2004-2006 Employment Act Labour Code Government priorities and procedures in promoting equality between men and women

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22. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 22 National Action Plan in Employment for the period 2004-2006 � cont. Recognized most vulnerable groups at the LM: mothers of very young children, mothers returning to the LM after maternity/parental leave, older women (reaching retirement age), living in small municipalities Special but not sufficient attention is paid to: (re)training, flexible working arrangements

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24. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 24 Government policy � solutions and provisions Recognized groups as the most vulnerable at the LM: (3 out of 5 basic groups) mothers of very young (pre-school) children, mothers returning to the LM after maternity/parental leave, older women approaching retirement age also: women living in small municipalities 1. + 2. support of their employment ? support of their qualification (training) and harmonization of W.&F ?must include day care facilities and flexible working hours 3. Training + care of elderly Cooperation of central and local governments

25. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 25 Government policy � solutions and provisions - cont. Special attention in employment policy: (re)training flexible working arrangements (Re)training opportunities are not well tailored to special needs of women (e.g. time schedules, occupations); stereotyped women�s requirements The percentage of part-time jobs and other arrangements does not correspond with the real demand + conditions are not well acceptable

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27. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 27 Employment Act and the Labour Code Amendments to Labour Code: Parental leave Equal pay Gender-neutral advertisements Working conditions flexible working arrangements The first equalizing changes introduced in 1991, but equal conditions for men and women only since 1.1.2001 According to L.C. the prescribed equal treatment includes remuneration for work. Details are stated by special law on wages Newly introduced in L.C. in 2000 There are exceptions for women (pregnant, mothers of babies..) in the L.C. and special legal norms Their range and conditions for their affordability were improved

28. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 28 Equal pay Principles: Those who carry out equal work or work on an equal value � right for equal pay Potential fallacies: Seemingly non-discriminating bases are not observed due to the number of influencing objective and �less objective� factors (formal education, work stage, working hours �) Difficult to control especially in a private sector Indirect discrimination practices

29. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 29 Working conditions Principles: Equal treatment for men and women concerns remuneration, professional training, opportunity to achieve functional and other professional promotion, access to new jobs Potential fallacies: Both individuals and women�s organizations have little experience in defence against discriminatory employers� behaviour Employers (e.g. in regions with economic difficulties) conclude unfavourable work contracts � enabled by restricted chances of defence (in people�s consciousness and in legal practice) Foreign firms rarely contribute to spreading of gender sensitive or family friendly programmes incl. those firms that have such programmes in their �home� countries Special issue: glass ceiling

30. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 30 Flexible working arrangements Principles: Czech legislation allows for any of possible working arrangements Reality: 1. in fact only part time work and less frequently flexible working hours are used � incidence is low; 2.discrepancy between offer of such work positions on the part of employers and the employees� demand of them

31. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 31 Flexible working arrangements - cont. Potential fallacies: Wages are lower, work load not so much Promotion prospects are worse Employers complain about inadequate administration (their interest is reduced) Smaller ratio of job security (they can be dismissed more easily) Advantages like social provisions are less granted to part-time workers than to full-time workers Wages inadequate for many commuting workers (incl. women in villages)

32. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 32 Parental leave and family benefits Basic goals in 1990s: to moderate the impact of economic transformation - the first task was to create a social safety net to concentrate benefits narrowly on those most in need : a household subsistence minimum was established - as the criterion for awarding the income-tested benefits and for calculating their amount Gender issues were not formerly the main focus of the social security reforms of the 1990s: a system for protecting mothers had already been developed and was in place; women's rights had been part of official government policy under the previous regime (although with discrepancies between official ideology and everyday politics). absence of a well-organized gender lobby divergent goals of the women�s organizations

33. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 33 Parental leave and family benefits � cont. Gender issues were taken into account in most amendments to SSS Act - some eligibility requirements changed in favour of caring parent 1997-2003 � amendments to the State Social Aid Act aimed at making the eligibility requirements for parental allowances more moderate and better tailored to individual needs and economical participation of parents 2001 � conditions for parental leave for women and men were unified (formerly they favoured women) 2004 amendment � more convenient eligibility requirements for parental allowance were introduced: conditions of only limited working hours at gainful employment and of limited earned income of a caring parent were abolished (the whole-day care for a child by another adult person must be ensured � limited use of day care facilities is allowed)

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36. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 36 Parental leave and family benefits � cont. equal access to child care benefits to women and men. Access alone does not change entrenched modes of distributing child care between parents the increased scope of income testing of child care benefits may reduce the incentives for women to engage in economic activity, especially women with low skills

37. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 37 Daily child care provisions Accessibility has changed: mainly concerning the distance from home, less as to the costs Quantitative decrease (nurseries now only in big cities, number of kindergartens is rather sufficient thanks to fertility decrease) Rise of the costs on day care Quality of care keeps rather high standard (e.g. on average about 22 children per a class for more than last 15 years) or has been improved (specialized kindergartens in bigger cities) Provisions for leisure time for school children have diversified (costs, organizers etc.)

38. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 38 Summary Reconciling work and family Gender stereotypes survive in attitudes of politicians, decisions makers, local authorities representatives as well as of general publics Women proved their ability to reconcile work and family, however it has been at the expenses of their personal needs and leisure time activities, successful bringing-up children, social participation etc. The main barriers to greater sharing of family responsibilities lie in inequalities in the labour market (the gender wage gap) and in cultural values.���

39. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 39 Summary Women are reluctant to use employment-based rights to family benefits for fear of reprisals by employers in the form of job loss and unfavou-rable re-assignment Women who do not live in cities and bigger towns meet more serious problems with harmonization of work and family (e.g. concerning the day-care facilities for children A lack of working cooperation between the central and local governments The cooperation between the Government and NGOs has been improving rather slowly

40. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 40 Summary Now existing forms of cooperation between the Government and NGOs include from the side of the Government: information, financing, consul-tations, common projects The role of the Czech-Moravian Confederation of Trade Unions has grown during the last 5-6 years The most recent equal treatment provisions removes barriers to possible future shifts toward more equal sharing of responsibilities for child care between parents as a contribution to equal opportunities

41. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 41 Summary There are still serious shortcomings in both formal and informal education of young generation from the point of view of equal opportunities

42. 5/4/2012 Riga 2005 42 Thank you Sources: Conditions for harmonization of work and family in the Czech Republic. Prague, Institute of Sociology. 2002 Ypr8va pro MPSV Focus on Women and Men. Prague. CZSO. 2004 Employment and Unemployment in the Czech Republic as Measured by the Labour Force Sample Survey 3rd Quarter 2004. Prague. CZSO. 2004 Labour Market in the Czech Republic 1993 � 2003. Prague. CZSO. 2004 The Gender Dimension of Social Security Reform in Central and Eastern Europe (Fultz E., Ruck M, Steinhilber S., eds.). Budapest, ILO-CEE. 2003