By Alba ȥla
TIRANA, Feb.20- Despite several programs and project targeting the gender discrimination in Albania the stubborn number show that women have lower chances to get employed and even when they do, their compensation is discriminative and their salaries lower. 31 percent of males in Albania are inactive in the labor market while for females the figure is 53 percent. The gender gap thus is considerable in the economic terms, which leads to eventual social problems. The National Institute of statistics has summarized data from 1995 that show clearly female employment levels have been consistently below the male one. 430 thousand females are currently working in Albania while more than 68 percent of all employees are males.
Wage differentiation
Women get less compensation even for the same amount of work that males do. The figures reach alarming levels of a differentiation of 50 percent. Monthly net salary for women is around 65 percent of that of men. The difference is higher for the private sector as the state at least nominally has gender blind policies. Specialists from the Ministry of Labor confirm that discrimination is seen for all age spans. Many international organizations that have prepared reports on the issue confirm the same fact.
Education and healthcare
The highest percentage of working women are employed in the sectors of education and healthcare. The phenomenon sees women occupying low levels and very few of them make it to high managing positions. 66.6 percent of education employees are women and the figure for healthcare is even higher, around 79 percent. The figures progress in a lower level when it comes to services. In building transport and communicating sectors figures vary between 3 and 9 percent. Femalas make up 40 percent of employees in the state sector, while in the level of lawmaker and high executive positions the figure falls to 26.8 percent. Simple office workers and administrative assistants number 56.2 percent.
Explanations
Reasons for this high difference in employment and compensation schemes for women have several competing explanations. The closure of many light industry plants that were the traditional employers of women have ad a huge impact upon the regime change. Currently the most profitable sectors of the economy are those who traditionally need male employees like building, transport, etc. the massive internal immigration form rural areas to the urban ones doe not help the situation. Confronted with the challenges of a new and different place women have less chances to adapt and seek employment actively. In the registered unemployed people women make up 48.4 percent. The figures do not reflect the reality because some women do not even register their condition. The discouraging labor market is producing long term effects upon the initiative and entrepreneurial spirit. Nevertheless, a positive development, however marginal is also being seen. Women are managing their own business and have their own business organization to represent their interest.
