WSC

WSK

BUDAPEST UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMIC SCIENCES

Professor Dr. Katalin Koncz Women's Studies Centre at the Corvinus University of Budapest H-1093 Budapest, Fõvám tér 8. Tel/fax:(36)1-2186-855/5177 ext., 2171 936 e-mail: [email protected]

12th Annual Conference of the International Association of Feminist Economics (IAFEE). University of the West Indies, The Cave Hill, Barbados, 27-29 June, 2003. 8 l.

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The tendency of feminization process during the transitional period in Hungary

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After the regime change the labor market has been undergoing dramatic changes, the employment conditions of women (and men) have become unfavorable in Hungary and in the other countries of the region. The level of employment has fallen and the level of unemployment has risen since 1989 (Table 1). A substantial decline in female employment has followed, both of active-age women and those over the retirement age. Table 1 Number of active earners by gender in Hungary in 1990 and 2001 Year

Women

Men

Together

1990

2013498

2513659

4527157

Prop. of women %) 44.5

2001

1687313

2002956

3690269

45.7

2001-1990

- 326185

- 510703

- 836888

39.0

83.8

79.7

81.5

2001/1990 (%)

1) The position of women in the Hungarian labor market

The most important social conditions of large (full) female employment (schooling, institutions for children) have created in the communist era, and some social policy measures have contributed to the improvement of the labor market position of women. Despite some results, the labor market position of women was worse than that of men. Objective socio-political facts - among them the labor market mechanisms - prevent the equality of women in society and within the family, which are also considerably influences by the traditions.

The labor market position of women has been in all period more unfavorable as that of men and it have worsened during the transitional period. The disadvantages of women begins at the moment of entrance into labor market nevertheless, the educational level of active earners women is better than that of men and continue

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during whole life cycle. The disadvantages of women manifest itself in different phenomenon.

• Female labor plays a secondary role, acting as a reserve in the labor market. This is why the employment of women is linked very closely to the prevailing economic situation and why there is extensive hidden unemployment in the case of women. The secondary role of female employment is strengthening in the transitional period.

• Women are forced to interrupt their career for the birth of and bringing up children.

• Their promotion is more restricted than that of men - "glass-ceiling effect", "pyramid effect".

• Segregation of labor market lowers the prestige of female posts and leads to an unfavorable counter-selection.

• The income differences have survived. Wages of women are generally less than that of men, and women are employed at the lower levels of the income hierarchy.

• The opportunities of women to defend their interests are weaker than that of men and have worsened in the transitional period.

The causes of the disadvantageous position of women derive from the market mechanisms that continuously perpetuate the basis of disadvantages by evaluation of economic and social contribution of gender. Labor market overestimates the male activities and undervalues the female ones. This social evaluation manifest itself in salary differences, in prestige rank of profession to the detriment of women and in the limited promotion of women – in summary: in the lack of equal chance by gender. In these circumstances, the women’s role in reproduction of population and labor force as well as their functions resulting therefore transform into disadvantages. The transition

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to the market economy in post- communist countries has worsened the social position of women: the demand of labor has decreased, the unemployment has risen, and the social aid has been pushed into the background.

2) Characteristics of the feminization process by economic sectors and professions

One of the most important characteristics of the labor market is its segmentation and segregation by gender. Feminization process could be analyzed by sectors and by professions. The more detailed the employment structure the more higher the segregation index. A feminized sector contains some feminized and nonfeminized (masculine) professions, too.

The feminization by sectors has decreased with some amplitude in long term (Figure 1). The proportion of women employed in feminized sectors1 in Hungary had decreased from the beginning of the industrialization (the first statistics concern 1891 88.4%) to 1910 (56.5% - Figure 1), when the trend changed and the scale of feminization begun to rise until 1930 (62.9%). Because of the Second World War, the feminization decreased essentially, and during the socialist era, it became stable.

Figure 1

1

The proportion of women within the sector or profession is more than 5o percent.

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The scale of feminisation by sectors in Hungary from 1891 to 1990 (%) 1 0,8 %

0,6 0,4 0,2 0 1880

1890

1900

1910

1920

1930

1940

1950

1960

1970

1980

1990

2000

year

The expansion of women's employment is accompanied in long term by two opposed tendencies everywhere in the world. On the one hand, women take increasingly more jobs reserved earlier for men (masculine jobs) into possession, while on the other, as a result of their mass inflow, steadily more professions come into prominence (feminized jobs). The scale of feminization depends finally on when and which tendency with what force becomes dominant in female employment (Table 2).

Table 2

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Change in number of female active earner by character2 of economic sectors from 1891 to 1990 (%) Year 1) 2)

1891 1900 88.4 59.8 1 70.4 1 330.8

1910 56.5 106.3 102.2

1920 1930 61.6 62.9 1 126.8 1 121.3

1941 48.5 97.7 174.4

1949 1960 42.8 52.1 1 254.5 1 175.5

1970 52.5 159.3 156.4

1980 53.3 120.5 111.7

1990 53.4 115.6 111.0

1) Proportion of women in feminized sectors3 2) Change of number of female employees in feminized sectors 3) Change of number of female employees in non-feminized (masculine) sectors

Source: Calculation on the bases of Census data The segregation by professions is more accented than by sectors. Most of the typical female and male jobs are closed; entering them for the other sex is limited. The segregation of the labor market by professions has been considerable: 79.9% of female active earners worked in feminized sectors, in 1990 and 79, 8% in 2001. In 33 profession (one third of all professions) have been concentrated the employment of four fifth of women in 2001. They are six professions where the proportion of women is more than 90%. Four of them are nursing - medical nursing with diploma (91%), general nursing (90, 3 %), medical nursing with secondary school, other medical professions (91%) - , clerical work (95%), garment trade employees (91%). Scale of feminization by professions in Hungary, 2001 Prop. of women

Professions N. (%)

Over 50%

33

35,5

1 346 712

79,8

100,0

50-69%

16

17,2

688 157

40,8

51,1

70-89%

11

11,8

357 178

21,2

26,5

N.

Employees (%)

(%)

6

Over 90%

6

6,5

Total (professions) Total (female empl.s)

93

100,0

Prop. of women under 5%

17

18,3%

301 377

17,9

1 687 313

100,0

10573

22,4

0,6%

Source: Calculation based on Census 2001, 6. Territorial data, 6.21. Summary, I. Central Statistical Office, 2002. pp. 152-162. According to historical analysis, the mobility between segments has been a oneway process in Hungary – and it is nowadays, too, with the exception of transitional countries. Women move towards masculine careers, the opposite one rarely occur. This phenomenon stabilizes the feminization process, which spread over of growing number of professions.

Until the transformation of the former communist countries, the feminization process by professions was a one-way process: in consequence of the full employment, more and more professions became feminized one. The feminized professions had lost their prestige and did not attract male employees. After the regime change with extension of market economy the demand towards some professions has increased essentially (e.g. professions in financial and bank sphere) which resulted a change in prestige rank of professions. The wages and prestige of these professions began to rise and men tend to move towards these - earlier feminized - professions. While in 1990,

the proportion of women within financial officers was 89.3%, in

2001 only 74.2%. This tendency justifies the functioning of above mentioned labor market mechanisms.

2) The causes of the feminization process

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The cause of feminization is a “counter-selective mechanism”, which finds expression in the prestige loss and the “relative income disadvantage” of feminized jobs. This repels those having a better labor-market position, i.e. men, giving a further push to the feminization of employment.

The equilibrium-creating function of female employment is not confined to the fact that the female labor supply adjusts itself to the prevailing demand for labor - as it is usually assumed and discussed in the feminist literature. Female labor plays an essentially more important role in transformation process of the employment structure. Technical, economic and social development in accompanied by the continued transformation of the employment structure. In this regularly renewing process, new skills and new jobs are born; the old ones are transformed, or are come to an end. The prestige rank of professions modifies. Working people in a better labormarket position (men) can apply, with a chance of success, for obtaining jobs of a higher social prestige.

Male and female are regrouped partly by new entrants, partly by re-allocation of employees. The better than average possibilities induce the more mobile workforce men - to change jobs. The conditions of mobility are better for men than for women; a greater proportion of men is skilled and usually has a qualification enabling them to cope with the higher requirements of a more modern technology. Many of them take part in the system of on-the-job training, of further education and retraining, being less burdened with household obligations, are less reluctant to take on work farther from their place of residence, are more inclined to break away from what they are used to and to adjust to new circumstances. For women, however, of whom few have professional qualifications, often enter the world of paid work directly from the household and do not take on work far away from their home. Professions with less favorable conditions offer massive job opportunities for women in a large number. This is why they move - for lack of a better solution - towards such jobs.

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The change in the employment structure is transmitted through the labormarket mechanisms. As a result, the sectors employing a relatively large proportion of women offer less favorable than average wage and income conditions, and the other way round. The feminization of a career begins, when; following the technical, economic and social changes, the social prestige of the given career begins to fall.

The occupational segregation is kept up by the mechanisms of the labour market, which is transmitted and reinforced by the socialization process. The occupations employing a large proportion of women, - that is the feminized careers are conceived and fixed in social consciousness as occupations destined for women from the very outset. Socialization transmits and reproduces the values established in the course of the division of labor, which is realized in practice by career orientation. According to Hungarian and international experiences, the majority of girls - even despite the intensive propaganda and vocational guidance - tend to choose occupations traditionally held to be feminine.

The consequence of the feminization process are
The insufficient utilization of human potential available for economy and society
The quality’s deterioration of feminized jobs offering less favorable conditions and losing their prestige - noticeable in the long run
The reinforcement of employment hierarchy to the detriment of women (pyramid effect, and glass ceiling effect).
In summary: the stiffening of the lack of equal chance of women and men in the labor market and in society.

Budapest, 20 June 2003

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