Women and financial crisis
Four problems that should have been solved yesterday
When the current economic crisis knocked on our door, Ukraine’s most active women-legislators, government executives, public figures, media editors, university professors, research institute chiefs, businesswomen, etc.-gathered in Kyiv to continue discussing the question of gender equality in Ukraine and gender quotas in the government. They are right to think that women will have to shoulder the burden of the crisis and that it is very unfair if you are to counsel about a problem on which you can exert no influence. The situation is absolutely unfair: men, who account for 38 percent of the total population and whose life expectancy is 12 years shorter than that of women, inefficiently rule over the latter (i.e., 62 percent of all people on Earth).
The Program of Equal Opportunities and Rights for Women of the UN Development Program in Ukraine organized the roundtable “Women’s Participation in Political Life and Women’s Leadership in Ukraine.” It was devoted to an analysis of issues related to women’s increasing role at all levels of public activity. The event is expected to facilitate at least some progress in solving this problem, and the voice of women will be heard at last.
If the power-wielding men still fail to hear, this will be done by those few female officials who hold the offices of ministers or deputy ministers and who, according to Tetiana Kondratiuk, Deputy Minister of Youth, Family, and Sports, have set up “women’s faction” in the government. Experts in gender issues are worried over the current situation in Ukraine, which they think discourages women from showing initiative or launching a business of their own because they are unable to bear the combined burden of the family and career.
“What is now going on in Ukraine has a very painful effect on the life and self-realization of women,” says Ella Libanova, director of the Institute of Demography and Social Research of Ukraine’s Academy of Sciences. “I would single out four basic problems that pertain to women: the first is the position of women and their (in)ability to build a career; the second is the necessity of increasing the age of retirement; the third is economic migration and all the issues associated with children being neglected by women who work abroad; and the fourth one is the current financial crisis and its impact on the position of women.
“The past few years have seen a reduction of economic activity among women aged 25 to 29. Birthrate has been on the rise in our country since 2002, but it is still an enormous problem for parents to find a suitable kindergarten for their child because we allowed the system of daycare facilities to go under. Something must be done here because in these conditions a skilled woman has to take at least a three-year career break, which is very painful, and if she wants to have a second child, this will certainly put paid to her further career.
“Men are unlikely to understand this, so we must explain this to everybody: if women wish to make their way up, they should not remain tied to their home and kitchen.
“Another problem is increasing the age of retirement. We are very worried now that women receive an essentially smaller pension than men do. I am afraid to disclose our forecasts, but if nothing changes, we are in for a catastrophe. Women’s pensions are now being raised to the subsistence level by way of subsidizing, while men’s retirement benefits exceed this level. I think there are many reasons why increasing the retirement age is the only way to change the situation.
One of them is that any pension is smaller than any wages. But when I begin to talk about this, I meet with stubborn resistance-from women at that. We need to explain this to everybody if we really care for gender equity and women’s rights. An early retirement age is an infringement of our rights, not a gain. Our state employees have come to understand this very well because they are now being pensioned off five years earlier than before. This is the direction in which we should go, but we are keeping silent.
“The next important problem pertains to women who are labor migrants. We have completed the first nationwide survey in which we polled 30,000 families of labor migrants, and we will soon have the complete picture of what happens when mothers leave their children in the care of their husbands, parents, or custodians, and do not see them for years. I think we must sound the alarm because this is the problem of not only women, but also the future of their children and Ukraine.
“The problem is that these children form a totally warped vision of the world, life, and relationships with people, including their next of kin. For example, when we talked with children of economic migrants, we saw that they were glad to receive presents from their parents; they brag about them to their classmates and this becomes the main thing in their lives. Parents are now alien to them. This change of values is bound to make an imprint on their behavior later in their own families, because they are not being properly brought up now: these children are not at all oriented to Ukraine, a normal family, or a normal career. We may lose an entire generation, especially in Western Ukraine, where there are so many children like these. We must speak, write and submit some proposals to the government about this. And, what is more, women will continue to work abroad because the gap between wages in Ukraine and Europe is only widening.
“The fourth problem is the financial crisis. Serious economic experts estimate that the next year will be very difficult in comparison with this one and the economic crisis will last for two to three years. I think that women will be assuming all the responsibility in the not-so-easy economic conditions, especially when their husbands lose their jobs. We should offer something to people. Women should receive serious, specific, and practical advice as to what should be done if they or, still worse, their husbands become unemployed. We are going to run into major problems, and we must get ourselves ready for them by way of drawing up programs and making proper decisions. I think these are some of the main points that we should discuss and work on.”
Women representing the government, the business sector, and the public exhibited unity during the roundtable debate-a good example for further cooperation in addressing important problems which are already disturbing people and in averting any new ones. Naturally, women must take part in this because, to quote Joanna Kazana-Wisniowiecka, UNDP Deputy Resident Representative in Ukraine, “an increase in the number of female leaders in society produces a positive effect: research confirms positive changes in the relation between the number of women in public life and corruption reduction.”
