LABOUR MARKET INEQUALITY AND EXCLUSION AS FACTORS OF FEMINIZATION OF POVERTY IN UKRAINE

Abstract

This paper examines the nature of labour market inequality and exclusion in Ukraine and how they increase women’s chances to go into poverty. Inequality and segregation based on gender exists in all spheres of the labour market and these are caused by multiple factors which sometimes interplay to the disadvantage of the female folks in Ukraine. For this paper, Interviews were conducted with some experts in the field of gender studies and labour market relations to gather expert information. Based on the interviews, it is deduced that the existent poor economic situation in the country creates hardship which affects both genders thereby making the discriminations against women unobvious. It is also gathered that the Ukrainian crisis has created steeper competition in the market with employers wanting to maximize profit by placing priority on efficiency which goes hand in glove with longer working hours and more flexible itineraries which sometimes places women at disadvantaged positions due to their maternity roles. Women’s labour are therefore priced cheaper leading to about 30% wage gap between men and women in Ukraine. Other factors such as unequal domestic obligations, traditional patriarchal culture, unpaid domestic labour, attitude towards low wages, vertical and horizontal segregation and gendered educational career path were found as causes of gender inequality in the labour market. For the full harnessing and exploitation of the Ukrainian human resource, stereotypes and gender discriminations in the economic spheres need to be dismantled to the barest minimum.