High Involvement of Russian Women in the Labor Market? To Work Hard for a Low Salary?

Irina Gorshkova, The Confederation Of Labor Of Russia

Gender policy in the ex-Soviet Union ("the employed mother’ contract") was aimed at maximizing the involvement of women in work outside the home. Women were removed from the control of the traditional family, and motherhood was supported by social guarantees and benefits. By the middle of the twentieth century, half of the able-bodied women of the USSR were involved in socially organized labor. This heritage of the Soviet period is present in one form or another in the current realities of the labor market. But although modern Russia is characterized by a high quantitative indicator of women's participation in the labor force, the "quality" of this participation is insufficient. This is directly indicated by the significant gender pay gap (30.4 per cent, 2023) and the factors underlying this gap. Horizontal and vertical occupational gender segregation, ineffective anti-discrimination legislation, the vulnerable position of women with family responsibilities, gender stereotypes and other barriers to women's full participation in the Russian labor market require solutions based on a comprehensive transformational approach. The abstracts are based on the analysis of official statistics, expert assessments and author's comments for trade union responses to the Russia country reports on conventions of the International Labor Organization No.100,111,156.

Keywords: Gender Dynamics, Inequality, Disadvantage and Discrimination

See paper.