The number of unemployed women in Montenegro is 33 percent higher compared to the period before the coronavirus pandemic, while violence against women increased by 25 percent in the same period.
"The Corona crisis has created a literal upheaval in the entire system of protecting women and their economic position. They were laid off due to the pandemic, they were given the opportunity to work from home, but with a reduced personal income. However, this has caused a large increase in violence against women. Our data show that from March to today, violence against women has increased by 25 percent," Ljiljana Raičević, director of the Safe Women's House, told Radio Free Europe (RSE).
"At the beginning of the pandemic on March 16 this year, we had 20.541 unemployed women, while today there are 27.445, which is an increase of 33 percent," Sabina Kujović, head of the records department at the Employment Agency, told RSE.
No statistics on layoffs for women due to the pandemic
When asked how many women have been fired since mid-March, when the Government of Montenegro declared a pandemic, RSE was told by the Tax Administration that they do not have that data because "they do not keep records by gender" but by tax identification number.
As confirmed to us, over 14 persons were deleted from the employee list during that period, on various grounds, including the economic crisis caused by the pandemic.
The latest research by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), presented on November 23, shows that the epidemic has increased the existing gender inequality of women in Montenegro. From February to June, more women than men were fired, women's salaries were reduced, especially in the private sector, UNDP announced.
The difference in earnings between men and women in Montenegro is 13,9 percent, the data is from the Government's activity plan for achieving gender equality for the period 2017-21.
Differences in wages as well
These data are confirmed by Ivana Mihailović from the Union of Free Trade Unions, who expects an additional increase in the difference due to the pandemic.
"This gap of 13,9 percent puts Montenegro, in a negative sense, at the top of Europe under regular circumstances. Women are generally a vulnerable category in the labor market. They are more employed in lower paid jobs. The gender role of women is such that it is considered that they should do unpaid work, such as taking care of the household, younger or older family members, and this further complicates her position," says Mihailović.
As he states, according to data at the European level, women work an average of 51 days more in order to earn the same as their male colleagues.
And the director of the Center for Women's Rights, Maja Raičević, claims that women are much more affected by the crisis caused by the coronavirus because they are more likely to lose their jobs and face greater exposure to domestic violence.
"We are talking about several months of the pandemic and there are already consequences in terms of deepening inequality between men and women in all areas of life, especially in the area of work and employment. The pandemic has definitely had the effect that women are paid less than men for the same work they do. Women are much more unemployed than men, as shown by the latest UNDP survey," said Maja Raičević from the Center for Women's Rights.
Inequality in earnings is "pure discrimination", Mihailović believes, but emphasizes that the regulations in Montenegro guarantee equal earnings for equal work by men and women.
Women's unpaid work has increased
Mihailović points out that during the pandemic, the amount of unpaid work by women increased due to the closure of kindergartens and schools, as well as the introduction of work from home, where they were exposed to unpaid work in addition to work, "which is not valued at all".
Since the emergence of the coronavirus, a number of women have been enabled by employers to work from home in accordance with government measures. This had the consequence, they claim in the non-governmental sector, that women do more household chores every day, in which they traditionally participate more.
"We all know that women do most of the unpaid work and care in the household. We have some earlier research that showed that women spend on average at least three and a half hours more than men in these household chores, which means that they have fewer opportunities to realize themselves in some other areas and to improve themselves", Maja Raičević told RSE. .
UNDP estimates, based on research, that a woman born in Montenegro will spend at least eight years of her life performing unpaid work in the form of housework.
"Women earned 122 million euros in monetary equivalent in the three months of the pandemic, because it's not money - we transferred it into money, the value of unpaid work and care in the household, which is even 92 percent more than men," said Danijela Gašparikova, permanent representative. of UNDP in Montenegro.
How much do women receive in healthcare
The burden of the fight against the coronavirus was largely borne by women in healthcare.
Ljiljana Krivokapić, President of the Independent Union of Health Care of Montenegro, tells RSE that women and men in health care earn the same for the same job.
"Globally, the data on unequal earnings are worrying, but in the health care system, women cannot receive less. This is guaranteed by the Branch collective agreement", says Krivokapić.
In Montenegro, nurses with secondary education earn from 320 to 380 euros, while those with a higher or higher education earn from 500 to 550 euros. The basic salary of a general practitioner is from 650 to 700 euros, and that of a specialist is in the range of 700 to 850 euros.
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