Gender differences in subjective well-being in Central and Eastern Europe

Abstract

The literature suggests that the transition process from centrally planned to market economies in Central and Eastern Europe increased the gender gap in poverty. Evidence for women’s higher poverty risk is scarce, given that most analyses use household-level data and assume equal sharing of income within households, an assumption that has been questioned in recent literature. This article uses individual data on subjective well-being to examine the extent of gender differences in welfare in transition countries. OECD countries serve for benchmarking results. Findings show that the gender gap in subjective well-being is more predominant in post-communist than in OECD countries. Relatively little of the gender gap can be attributed to gender differences in socio-economic position in transition countries, but certain attributes, such as higher education and unemployment, impact differently on reported well-being for women and men.