Gender inequality in the labour market of Ukraine

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/workorgalaboglob.16.2.0140
• Published date: 17 October 2022
• Date: 17 October 2022
• Pages: 140-157
• Author: Mykola M. Klemparskyi,Helena V. Pavlichenko,Roman Ye. Prokopiev,Leonid V. Mohilevskyi,Yuliia M. Burniagina
• Subject Matter: Gender inequality,women’s labour,domestic labour law,gender employment,labour market,labour remuneration

140 Work organisation, labour & globalisation Volume 16, Number 2, 2022

Gender inequality in the labour market

of Ukraine

Challenges for the future

Mykola M. Klemparskyi, Helena V. Pavlichenko, Roman Ye.

Prokopiev, Leonid V. Mohilevskyi and Yuliia M. Burniagina

Mykola M. Klemparskyi is a Doctor of Legal Sciences and

Professor in the Department of Civil, Labour Law and Social

Security Law at Donetsk State University of Internal Affairs,

Mariupol, Ukraine.

Helena V. Pavlichenko is a Doctor of Law and Associate

Professor in the Department of Sanitation, Hygiene and

Forensic Veterinary Medicine at State Biotechnology

University, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Roman Ye. Prokopiev is a PhD, doctoral student in the

Department of Labour Law at Yaroslav Mudryi National

Law University, Kharkiv, Ukraine.

Leonid V. Mohilevskyi is a Doctor of Legal Sciences and

Professor in the Department of Labour and Economic Law

at Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs, Kharkiv,

Ukraine

Yuliia M. Burniagina is a Candidate of Legal Sciences and

Assistant in the Department of Labour Law at Yaroslav

Mudryi National Law University, Kharkiv, Ukraine

ABSTRACT

Gender inequality is one of the fundamental manifestations of socio-economic

differentiation of the population, leading to different opportunities for self-

realisation for women and men in society. This makes it an important topic for

analysis even though there may be different views on the matter. The labour

market conditions that existed in Ukraine until the end of February 2022

exacerbated the problems of gender inequality in employment. These problems

were manifested in unequal opportunities for women and men in public

administration, education, employment, income and property. The research

uses general and specic scientic methods – dialectical, historical, analysis

and synthesis, induction and deduction – to study the legislative frameworks

governing gender equality in the European Union (EU) and Ukraine in

determining the current state of women’s employment in Ukraine and Europe.

DOI:10.13169/workorgalaboglob.16.2.0140

Work organisation, labour & globalisation Volume 16, Number 2, 2022 141

In this context, the purpose of this article is to identify the features of gender

inequality in the labour market of modern Ukraine, as well as to identify its

causes and solutions.

KEY WORDS

Gender inequality, women’s labour, domestic labour law, gender employment,

labour market, labour remuneration.

Introduction

In modern society, the equal legal status of women and men, as well as equal

opportunities for the realisation of gender equality, have long become commonplace in

public discourse and politics. Ukraine is one of the countries where the equality of men

and women is enshrined in the law. However, in reality, the Ukrainian society continues

to remain gender unequal, with more property, power and general influence belonging

to men. This is unfair and has negative consequences for economic development.

Restrictions on women’s opportunities to engage in certain professions reduce the

efficiency of human resources and increase income stratification (Khrystova &

Uvarova, 2022).

In addition, cross-national analysis shows that gender equality can be a measure of

the level of economic development (Kostruba & Lukianov, 2019). Women make up the

majority of the population in any society, so lowering entry barriers for women leads to

an expansion of the productive class and is fruitful for the post-industrial economy. The

practice of economic reforms has shown that in the absence of an adequate system of

state employment regulation measures, the female part of the workforce is the first to be

pushed to the periphery of the labour market or even beyond it (Yaroshenko et al.,

2021a). As a result, hidden and overt discrimination against women, gender

segmentation of the labour market and devaluation of women’s education and

qualification potential are increasing. This problem is worsening but very often research

into it does not take into account purely economic factors affecting labour relations.

The negative trends in the employment of women, monitored in the period up to

the end of February 2022, have a detrimental effect on the demographic situation in the

country and on social relations. The main one is the problem of inequality between

men and women in the labour market, even though Article 17 of the Law of Ukraine

‘On Ensuring the Rights and Opportunities of Women and Men’ declares: ‘Women and

men are provided with equal rights and opportunities in the field of employment,

professional development, and retraining’ (Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, 2005). But data

show that problems with career and professional development occur more often among

women, and the offer of jobs for women is characterised by a much narrower

professional range. In addition, women’s chances of losing their jobs are always higher

than men’s (Khrystova & Uvarova, 2022). Therefore, the problem of female

unemployment, despite theoretical research on it, remains extremely relevant in

practical terms since most of the unemployed are women, and women’s wages are

significantly lower than those of men in the same positions. In addition, since the