The impact of parents´employment on gender inequalities in the Czech Republic after 1989 * Hana Maříková Institute of Sociology, CAS, v.v.i. Praha

Changes after 1989 in the CR CR – the country with a very low fertility rate Decrease in female employment Debates on fertility + female employment (debates on welfare state + gender regime)

Graph 1: Fertility rate in the CR

Graph 2: An average age of mothers in the 1st childbirth, in all childbirths

Female employment and its context in the CR Before and after 1989: 46 % of women in the 80s, 44.3 % in 1990 Changes in social policies – family policy and employment policy affected W´s + M´s lifes and work paths as parents (the right to care preferred to right to work in the W´s case)

Table 1: The number of nurseries in the Czech Republic since 1988 YearNumber of facilities Total enrolment capacity Source: ÚZIS (Institute of Health Information and Statistics) 2000 a 2011

Graph 3: Femele employment rate in the Visegrad countries

Graph 4: Employment impact of parenthood - female

Graph 5: Employment impact of parenthood - male

What about men – fathers in the CR? Until 1990 (parental) allowance for fathers only in specific life situations (Act No. 110/1984 Sb.) October 1990: „parental allowance“ was introduced (e.g. also for all fathers) 2001: parental leave (in the Labour Code)

Graph 6: Absolute number of men on the parental leave (or at home to take care) in a given year (in thousands)

Graph 7: Women on parental leave as percentage of the total number of parents on the parental leave in a given year

Causes of low representation of men on parental leave Institutional level: Until 2008: a parental allowance = one fixed sum After 2008: 3 fixed sums Absence of a parental quota Absence of paternal (daddy) leave Lack of support on the company level

Graph 8: Uptake of parental leave by Norwegian fathers (of those who were entitled to the leave) between 1988 and 1998 (in %) Source: Brandt and Kvande 1995.

Impact of motherhood on female work Lower career chances Lower income Higher unemployment rate (see next slide) Lower pensions (women´s average pension in the long term = 0.81 % of men´s average pension)

Graph 9: Female unemployment by age (in %)

Table 2: Gender pay gap in the average gross hourly wage by age (women compared to men in 2004 and 2010) Age cohortGender pay gap in 2004 Gender pay gap in Source: Struktura mezd 2004 and 2010 (2004 and 2010 Wage Structure).

Inequalities in the private sphere Unequal distribution of the domestic work and child care In 63.5 % families with children up to 10 – traditional division of labour and care (Parents 2005) Family as an inhibitor for women in the LM Family as a stimulator for men

Conclusion Reinforcing familialistic tendency in the Czech family policy / male breadwinner – female carer model - low fertility rate - low employment rate of mothers - lower chances on the LM for mothers - increase in gender inequalities in the sphere of paid work + unpaid work (in the private sphere) Questions: For whom is this model adventageous? Is not finally time to change it?

Thank you! Hana Maříková