Ladán Éva, Expert of women’s issue of National Federation of Workers’ Councils about the situation of women in the world of work today
DWT/CO-Budapest marks the International Women's Day in 2014 by collecting the views of workers, employers and governments on progress achieved and challenges ahead for women at work in the region.
7 March 2014
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magyar
1. How do you assess the situation of women in the world of work today?
In Hungarian society women are supposed to participate in economic activities (gender roles), and it seems that even the employment growth indispensable for economic development is expected to result from the employment of mothers. As opposed to this, our individual decisions are mainly dominated by gender role differences. The world of work is characterised by this ambiguity and the two priorities alternate, which is often disadvantageous for the women when they are planning to have children. At the same time, the growth of women’s economic activities does not lag behind that of men’s; in fact, in the past 15 years there has been a steady growth, at double the rate for men.
The growth rate of the number women in full employment has been half of the growth rate of the number of fully employed men, while in part time employment the growth rate of women has surpassed that of men. We are informed by feedback from employees that there are employers who ”mess” these two forms of employment in order to reduce their costs, which, due to women’s vulnerability, affects women’s employment. Therefore, even that small proportion of part-time employment presents a distorted picture.
The idea of the role of men as “breadwinners” and the traditional attitude that has by now become strongly questionable is significantly manifested in wages. The average 17 per cent difference negatively affecting women has almost become standard. Among our members employed in semi-skilled manual work, the difference is smaller. As opposed to this, the pay gap shown in the estimation of different professions (women in typical women’s professions have lower incomes), as well as the pay gap between managers and highly qualified professionals are greater. I could also say that the chances of valuing the quality of different work activities in an equal way are rather small.
We have been told of disadvantageous situations, but also of young women suffering different degrees of harassment, who experience vulnerability in the first few years of employment. In order to solve the situation of discrimination, they choose to leave the workplace. For me the most distressing aspect of this is the way they accept the situation. Cases of employment discrimination on the basis of age or skin colour are also not unusual.
2. What is the most significant change in the world of work and society at large that influences the position of women at?
As the family oriented attitude remains strong in Hungarian Society, the world of work and wage-earning activities still may create problems for women. They are restricted in having children by the difficulties of the reconciliation of family and work life. This ambiguity causes a shift in women’s values, while at the same time I think values in general have been disturbed. Having children, bringing them up and educating them, should be seen by society as producing values, just as the behavioural criteria of employability should be considered values. These values can be generated at the smallest cost through the families’ and particularly the mothers’ system of values by way of coded patterns and motivations.
Even families with two wage earners have difficulties to make ends meet, due to low wages, therefore only a few women are able to make having and bringing up children the priority of their life. That is why it is a positive development if those who commit themselves to both family and work can receive help in starting work. Results in this area include benefits recently introduced for families, and the rules providing benefits for families with children and facilitating employment.
The preferential pension known as “Women 40” was a good decision, as it is a way of acknowledging women’s efforts to bring up their children and the extra burdens they bear, and it can also help young mothers to enter the labour market. We should not forget about the positive effects on the public good of grandparents’ help. This can work in two ways, as the effect of the well-being of women can also strengthen family relationships. The dramatic decline of birth rates which could be experienced in the past decades may lead to the collapse of the basis of social security, but the same can be said about economic productivity.
In the environment of the National Federation of Workers’ Councils, I have not seen inclusive, family friendly and diverse workplaces, although I actually have come across such references and prizes given for such employment while performing my tasks. I have also heard about extreme cases that reached a wider public, but these seem to be exceptional. My personal impression is that there are no equality plans in the manufacturing sector, and they are usually only formal in the services sector and for public employees. In collective agreements no consideration is given to regulations related to either men’s or women’s role in family life. No attention is paid to the timing of parents’ duties – the family must adapt to the workplace. Workplaces help employees to find childcare facilities only in a few cases and to a limited extent, although they could have a return on this investment through the enhanced level of employees’ security.
In the light of such change, are the current approaches for achieving women’s empowerment and equality still valid or do you see adjustment needs?
I think they are still valid in the areas ensuring women’s equality, as in many cases practice is different from the content of the regulations and the law has to be in force also for wages. Women are not only unable to freely decide on issues related to participation in the labour market and performing duties at home and at work, but they are also often under pressure in certain areas of the employment relationship. Besides equality of men and women, more focus should be put on the dignity and value of the human being.
3. How could the role that workers’ and employers’ organizations play in promoting women’s equality at work be strengthened?
Women’s employment could be supported by encouraging wider acceptance of regulated and monitored employment relationships, promoting collective agreements, and also making the parties interested in bargaining and agree on the necessary elements of balancing work and life.
The development of HR-practices and workplace health programmes could be an important and indispensable means of maintaining women’s resources, while they are also able to meet the expected financial goals, by keeping the driving force behind high-level achievement, since even a little attention paid to employees and helping them achieve their own or family-related goals may also be beneficial for the employers.
Budapest, 5 March 2014
In Hungarian society women are supposed to participate in economic activities (gender roles), and it seems that even the employment growth indispensable for economic development is expected to result from the employment of mothers. As opposed to this, our individual decisions are mainly dominated by gender role differences. The world of work is characterised by this ambiguity and the two priorities alternate, which is often disadvantageous for the women when they are planning to have children. At the same time, the growth of women’s economic activities does not lag behind that of men’s; in fact, in the past 15 years there has been a steady growth, at double the rate for men.
The growth rate of the number women in full employment has been half of the growth rate of the number of fully employed men, while in part time employment the growth rate of women has surpassed that of men. We are informed by feedback from employees that there are employers who ”mess” these two forms of employment in order to reduce their costs, which, due to women’s vulnerability, affects women’s employment. Therefore, even that small proportion of part-time employment presents a distorted picture.
The idea of the role of men as “breadwinners” and the traditional attitude that has by now become strongly questionable is significantly manifested in wages. The average 17 per cent difference negatively affecting women has almost become standard. Among our members employed in semi-skilled manual work, the difference is smaller. As opposed to this, the pay gap shown in the estimation of different professions (women in typical women’s professions have lower incomes), as well as the pay gap between managers and highly qualified professionals are greater. I could also say that the chances of valuing the quality of different work activities in an equal way are rather small.
We have been told of disadvantageous situations, but also of young women suffering different degrees of harassment, who experience vulnerability in the first few years of employment. In order to solve the situation of discrimination, they choose to leave the workplace. For me the most distressing aspect of this is the way they accept the situation. Cases of employment discrimination on the basis of age or skin colour are also not unusual.
2. What is the most significant change in the world of work and society at large that influences the position of women at?
As the family oriented attitude remains strong in Hungarian Society, the world of work and wage-earning activities still may create problems for women. They are restricted in having children by the difficulties of the reconciliation of family and work life. This ambiguity causes a shift in women’s values, while at the same time I think values in general have been disturbed. Having children, bringing them up and educating them, should be seen by society as producing values, just as the behavioural criteria of employability should be considered values. These values can be generated at the smallest cost through the families’ and particularly the mothers’ system of values by way of coded patterns and motivations.
Even families with two wage earners have difficulties to make ends meet, due to low wages, therefore only a few women are able to make having and bringing up children the priority of their life. That is why it is a positive development if those who commit themselves to both family and work can receive help in starting work. Results in this area include benefits recently introduced for families, and the rules providing benefits for families with children and facilitating employment.
The preferential pension known as “Women 40” was a good decision, as it is a way of acknowledging women’s efforts to bring up their children and the extra burdens they bear, and it can also help young mothers to enter the labour market. We should not forget about the positive effects on the public good of grandparents’ help. This can work in two ways, as the effect of the well-being of women can also strengthen family relationships. The dramatic decline of birth rates which could be experienced in the past decades may lead to the collapse of the basis of social security, but the same can be said about economic productivity.
In the environment of the National Federation of Workers’ Councils, I have not seen inclusive, family friendly and diverse workplaces, although I actually have come across such references and prizes given for such employment while performing my tasks. I have also heard about extreme cases that reached a wider public, but these seem to be exceptional. My personal impression is that there are no equality plans in the manufacturing sector, and they are usually only formal in the services sector and for public employees. In collective agreements no consideration is given to regulations related to either men’s or women’s role in family life. No attention is paid to the timing of parents’ duties – the family must adapt to the workplace. Workplaces help employees to find childcare facilities only in a few cases and to a limited extent, although they could have a return on this investment through the enhanced level of employees’ security.
In the light of such change, are the current approaches for achieving women’s empowerment and equality still valid or do you see adjustment needs?
I think they are still valid in the areas ensuring women’s equality, as in many cases practice is different from the content of the regulations and the law has to be in force also for wages. Women are not only unable to freely decide on issues related to participation in the labour market and performing duties at home and at work, but they are also often under pressure in certain areas of the employment relationship. Besides equality of men and women, more focus should be put on the dignity and value of the human being.
3. How could the role that workers’ and employers’ organizations play in promoting women’s equality at work be strengthened?
Women’s employment could be supported by encouraging wider acceptance of regulated and monitored employment relationships, promoting collective agreements, and also making the parties interested in bargaining and agree on the necessary elements of balancing work and life.
The development of HR-practices and workplace health programmes could be an important and indispensable means of maintaining women’s resources, while they are also able to meet the expected financial goals, by keeping the driving force behind high-level achievement, since even a little attention paid to employees and helping them achieve their own or family-related goals may also be beneficial for the employers.
Budapest, 5 March 2014