For five years, working mothers with young children “blew up” the labor market

Experts told how today the professions were redistributed between men and women

The employment of women who raise small children in Russia has grown by 68%, Olga Batalina, deputy head of the Ministry of Labor, said at a round table in the State Duma. The meeting of relevant committees and departments was dedicated to the actions of the state in the interests of women for 2023-2030. The participants noted that harmony in the family and at work contributes to the growth of women’s education, the reduction of the list of prohibited professions and other social measures. However, there is still room to grow. The “glass ceiling” remains in society: the gap between male and female salaries, qualifications for employment, “female” sectors of the economy, etc.

Employment of women aged 20 to 49 years old, raising preschool children up to 6 years old, has grown by 68% since 2017, Batalina said. In her opinion, this achievement was facilitated by the growth of vocational training and additional education for women who are “sitting on maternity leave”. This was also helped by a sharp reduction in the list of specialties and jobs that are prohibited for women – their number decreased from 456 to 100 items. To a record 96%, according to the deputy minister, “the availability of preschool education”, that is, simply places in nurseries and kindergartens, has increased.

However, the labor market is still unevenly distributed. There are still “purely female” segments in Russia. The sphere of education remains predominantly female – 82.4% of employed women. In second place is health care and social services, where almost 80% of women are women.

The gap between wage levels for men and women has not disappeared either. The average value of the “glass ceiling” in the country is 28%. But unemployment is divided almost in half between the sexes – women among unemployed citizens make up 49.4%. At the same time, women look for work longer than men: ladies spend on average 7 months on finding a job (men 2-3 months).

“Any social statistics is such an “average temperature in a hospital”, a disputable value,” says sociologist Pavel Kruglov. – Here, it would seem, is an unprecedented increase in almost 70% of employed women with small preschool children. Well, because work is realization, socialization, career, own income. But if we look at the prerequisites for an early exit to work among mothers of small children, we will see divorce as one of the reasons. And divorces are on the rise. Or, let’s say, unemployment – here it is conditionally half-and-half of men and women. But among women with children, more than 40 percent of the unemployed have a high-quality higher education. That is, there is no realization for them, but you don’t want to go anywhere or for a very low salary, it’s better to stay at home and raise a child. Or the same “glass ceiling”. Employers who do not consider women with children as a candidate for employment in Russia are still 42%. Here, either tax incentives are needed, or a quota system.

As for self-employment, according to business experts, in 2022 the share of women entrepreneurs in Russia was 34%. The favorite areas of women’s businesses in our country are the service sector, trade, education, beauty, fashion and design, tailoring. However, there is an area where I will give an absolute majority – 90% of social entrepreneurs in Russia are women. After February 24, half of the domestic businesswomen had to think about changing their activities. Such areas as marketing, tourism, organization of tours, holidays and entertainment suffered the most. On the other hand, experts note the growth of “women’s cause” in such areas as IT or biotechnology. This is a natural consequence of the outflow of male entrepreneurs and start-ups after the announcement of mobilization.