|
Last update:
September 02. 2010 20:55:19 |
|
|
|
|
|
researchRESEARCH
Since its foundation, the Association has conducted several researches on the position of women in economy, given that statistics in this field is insufficient and superficial. Up to now we have conducted researches on women in informal economy, the research “Women and Private Entrepreneurship”, as well as “The Most European Women’s Company”.
Our latest research, “From a Vulnerable to a Sustainable Group”, has been conducted in the second half of 2006 and the first half of 2007; it is financed by UNDP.
More on the research, “From a Vulnerable to a Sustainable Group”
The Association of Business Women designed and, in cooperation with the agency MASMI from Belgrade, conducted in the course of December 2006 a research entitled “From a Vulnerable to a Sustainable Group”. The aim of this research was to become aware of the main problems and opportunities for improvement of women’s position in the labour market, whereby special attention was paid to women’s entrepreneurial initiatives, i.e. self-employment as a method for overcoming the women’s poverty.
The research was performed in two phases: in phase one were collected the main data on the current working status of women who went through trainings delivered by the National Employment Service, Agency for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship on the topic of starting up a private business. In phase two of the research participated 300 selected women: entrepreneurs (100), the ones currently working for an employer (100) and the ones currently unemployed (100). The research has also a qualitative part that refers to the in-depth interviews with women in the decision-making positions in institutions relevant for the employment policy and development of entrepreneurship, therefore their attitudes towards this topic are very interesting, particularly because they also contain recommendations on how, from their standpoint, an impact could be made on the improvement of the position of women in the labour market.
Out of 656 women who went through the training for starting up their own business, organized by the National Employment Service, Agency for Development of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Entrepreneurship and took part in the research, more than 1/3 are still unemployed, while ¼ has started their own business and ¼ now works for some employer. At the time of the training duration the majority of these women were jobless (87%).
The majority of women who took part in the research specify that while seeking a job they had problems related to unequal treatment due to their age, given that they are women; important source of problems was also the lack of support by the husband or partner and other members of the family.
Yet, after being laid off, it is most often the family and friends who give support to women.
After being laid off, women mainly addressed the National Employment Service for assistance, and they mainly needed an intermediate in finding a new job, as well as the social/health insurance. As many as 20% of women (14% of present entrepreneurs, 19% of the ones currently working for an employer and 24% of the unemployed) did not turn to any organization or institution asking for assistance.
The majority of women, either entrepreneurs, employed or unemployed, think that women in Serbia, for starting up a private business, in the first place lack funds, and then information and contacts. While about 1/3 of entrepreneurs believe that women lack support by the family, nearly half of those working for an employer or the unemployed state the same.
Women who managed to establish private enterprises usually saw in private entrepreneurship their only chance to get a job and to have adequate income, while 38% of women see entrepreneurship as their dream-come-true to be independent in their work.
When establishing an enterprise they face numerous problems, the most frequent being: high taxes and fees, business activities risk in Serbia, and the problem of the Balkan mentality (“It is difficult for a woman in Serbia to start up a private business due to the Balkan mentality”).
Nevertheless, despite various difficulties, the majority of entrepreneurs plan to expand their businesses – as claimed by almost 60% of women.
On the other hand, the majority of women who completed the entrepreneurial training and still have not formed their own enterprise probably will not do it within the next period either. However, 1/3 of them still have the intention to do it.
Women in decision-making positions in institutions mainly agree that in our society there is gender discrimination; however, it is usually covert. The source of this inequality lies in economic dependence of women and in lack of women’s initiative in Serbia, therefore it is critical to secure in the first place the development of:
-legal basis for gender equality (to pass the Law on Gender Equality as soon as possible)
-economical empowerment of women through different measures of positive affirmation, such as:
- Implementation of credit mechanisms for women as a special target group. When implementing these credits, the State should be the main guarantor for the credit line.
- Granting a 3-year grace period for credits taken by women for start-up businesses.
- Non-repayable credit for which the proceeds would be provided partly from donations by foreign and domestic investors and partly from the State budget.
- Linking the severance with the start-up credits. In the past period, due to economic changes, a large number of women decided to accept severances and to leave their jobs. Women should get systematic assistance in order to use in the best possible way the funds they obtained.Recommendation to women starting the entrepreneurship activities is to focus on the service sector, which has a raising trend in all economies. A concrete proposal is that our specialized institutions for export and development of entrepreneurship organize presentations of companies that need to outsource small firms for various services necessary for corporations.
- measures of support in the domain of social policy, labour and employment, such as:
- flexitime
- making possible home-based work
- opening a kindergarten inside the company in which the woman is employed
- prescribing penalty measures for possible unequal remuneration for men and women in the same position
- introducing tax relieves for employers who employ women
This research study also includes a comparative part with control groups in the quantitative part, thus being a unique and comprehensive source of information on the women’s position in the labour market from the standpoint of entrepreneurship and self-employment.
Useful links:
Reasearch Women in the Labour Market Advice
Gender Barometer
|
|
|
|
|
