SERBIA PROMOTING WOMEN’S ACCESS TO ECONOMIC OPPORTUNITIES Policy Note Key Messages Prospects for faster, more sustainable economic growth and higher living standards in Serbia rely on increasing employment opportunities for all. By maintaining the current structure of labor participation, Serbia is not capitalizing on its educated young population, as only 48 percent of 15–64-year-old women are actively contributing to the economy through employment. Closing gender gaps in access to economic opportunities requires removing the existing barriers and disincentives to employment and entrepreneurship for women. Needed steps include: (i) improving access to assets and productive inputs, (ii) providing access to child- and eldercare, (iii) eliminating disincentives and barriers embedded in labor taxation and regulation, and (iv) increasing the employability of women through effective active labor market policies and adequate skills and training. Cross-cutting policies around social norms and discrimination, better access to information, and improved monitoring and evaluation systems are also important. This Policy Note was produced in 2017 by the World Bank to summarize the relevant policy areas in tackling gender gaps in access to economic opportunities in Serbia. It was prepared by a World Bank team from the Poverty and Equity Global Practice unit that included Paola Buitrago, Maria E. Dávalos, Ana Maria Munoz Boudet, and Lourdes Rodriguez. Context The labor market is also characterized by a high degree of informality at 21.3 percent of workers aged 15–64. 2 Serbia has made progress in promoting equity Gaps are also observed in entrepreneurship, as only between men and women, but gaps remain, 14.3 percent of firms have a woman as manager and particularly in access to economic opportunities. The only 13.7 percent include women in ownership. 3 rate of labor participation among women has remained mostly unchanged at around 55 percent over the past For those in the labor market, unemployment rates are 15 years, 11 percentage points below the current similar for men and women. However, among the European Union (EU) average. 1 However, there is a employed, there is a gender wage gap of roughly 17 gender gap of 16 percentage points that persists percent, even after controlling for such characteristics throughout the life cycle (figure 1) and is substantial as education and experience and even though the share compared to other Europe and Central Asia (ECA) of women with tertiary education is higher than that of countries (figure 2). The gender gap in employment is men (31 compared to 20 percent, respectively). Women 14 percentage points, with an employment rate of 58 percent for men and only 44 percent for women. 1 Republic of Serbia (2015); EUROSTAT data. 3 European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Business 2 Republic of Serbia (2015). Environment and Enterprise Performance Survey (BEEPS), 2013. working in agriculture are especially disadvantaged. 4 For instance, the 2014 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey Segregation in fields of study— young women tend to (MICS) shows that 89 percent of adolescents from concentrate more on certain areas such as health, among the general population attend secondary school, education, and humanities and arts—also influences but only 22 percent of young Roma do so, and the their labor market prospects. 5 number for Roma boys is higher than for Roma girls (28 versus 15 percent). 6 Similarly, unemployment among Figure 1. Labor Force Participation by Gender and Age Roma women is estimated to be almost twice as high as Groups, 2015 among non-Roma women. 7 100% 90% Of particular concern is the high rate of young people 80% aged 15–29 who are not in employment, education, or Rate of labor force participation 70% 60% training (NEET) (24 percent, more than double the EU 50% average). This labor market detachment, more 40% prevalent among women, delays or prevents the 30% accumulation of valuable on-the-job skills. Since these 20% “scarring effects” from unemployment and periods of 10% inactivity often translate into lower productivity and 0% 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-34 35-39 40-44 45-49 50-54 55-59 60-64 human capital accumulation later in life, women can Age Group Women Men find their prospects for upward economic mobility substantially impaired, which in turn affects the Source: Authors, using Serbia Labour Force Survey (LFS), 2015. country’s future economic growth potential. In fact, in Serbia, differences in labor market activity rates Among ethnic minorities, gender gaps exist even in between men and women amount to potential outcomes for which the country has, on average, achieved equality, such as education. Figure 2. Labor Force Participation Rate (population ages 15–64) Sources: World Bank, “World Development Indicators 2015” (World Bank, Washington, DC: 2016); Data for Kosovo from 2014 LFS. 4UNECE (2015). 6 UNICEF (2014). 5Estimates from Avlijaš et al. (2013) suggest that approximately 35 7 UNDP, World Bank, and EC (2011). percent of the gender wage gap in Serbia is explained by occupational segregation. economic losses in gross income per capita of roughly Women therefore face obstacles not only in using land 16 percent. 8 or other property to develop a business but also in accessing financial markets due to the lack of collateral. Women who own a business report that they mainly Addressing the Challenges to Gender take out small loans to finance liquidity and cover minor Equality costs, probably because smaller loans usually do not require mortgage as a form of collateral. 12 This suggests Closing gender gaps in access to economic that getting access to property is a significant barrier to opportunities requires removing the barriers and their ability to obtain credit. Although the percentage disincentives to employment and entrepreneurship of individuals 15 and older who have an account at a that women face. A number of steps are needed to financial institution is relatively high among both men ensure progress in this area, including improved access and women (around 80 percent), 13 there are gender to assets and inputs, better access to child- and disparities in access to finance in that women receive eldercare, fairer labor taxation and regulation policies, 30–40 percent of loans awarded by the state-run and enhanced labor market skills and training. Development Fund and approximately 40 percent of the microcredits. 14 Access to Productive Inputs Access to Child- and Eldercare The lack of access to productive inputs such as land or Another fundamental barrier to women’s economic credit constrains women’s economic opportunities, participation is the usually competing demand on their particularly as entrepreneurs. time to care for family members. This generates a vicious circle of low labor market attachment and Recent data reveal that women’s participation in prominence in the care provider role that leads to property ownership is low in Serbia: 39.2 percent of women’s increased economic vulnerability and other property owners are women while 60.7 percent are gender-based inequalities. Low enrollment rates in men. Property is usually registered in the name of the preschool education in Serbia reflect limited working husband or another male relative. 9 Although Serbia’s time for parents, particularly women. Although the net civil code protects women’s right to property enrollment rate in kindergarten has been increasing, ownership, prevailing discriminatory traditions and data from the EU’s Statistics on Income and Living social norms undermine this and other basic rights, Conditions (SILC) 2013 show that only 35 percent of especially for women in rural areas and among the children aged 3–6 attend early childhood education, a Roma population. For example, only 18 percent of rate lower than the ECA regional average. Vulnerable agricultural holdings are held by women. 10 groups such as the Roma population show even lower participation rates. 15 Moreover, women often lack information about their rights and the services to use for guidance and Three main messages emerge from a recent World Bank information. Even when women do legally own land, it assessment of supply of and demand for formal child- is often regarded as family property and thus not and eldercare in Serbia: appropriate for women to have the right to administer it. 11 1. Childcare: The relatively low utilization of formal childcare services, particularly in rural areas, is driven 8 Cuberes and Teignier (2015). 11 OECD SIGI Index. 9 Based on the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and 12 Arandjelovic (2013). Development (OECD) Social Institutions and Gender Index (SIGI), 13 World Bank, “The Global Findex Database,” 2014. 2014, http://www.genderindex.org/country/serbia. 14 OECD SIGI Index. 10 OECD (2014). 15 World Bank (2015). by the limited availability of affordable services. women are more likely to be overrepresented in this Evidence shows that there is an unfulfilled demand for group, the outcome could be disincentives among formal childcare services predominantly from parents women to work or among employers to hire them. who see a benefit for their child’s development and from mothers who are already working or who are Moreover, certain regulations disproportionately affect willing to work outside the home. women’s employment, including in such areas as flexible work arrangements and family leave provisions. 2. Eldercare: The supply of eldercare is characterized by In Serbia, only about 10.5 percent of workers are a lack of day-based services and the limited number employed part-time, which is significantly lower than and expense of residential care centers. Social norms the EU average of 20 percent. are a strong deterrent to the use of residential eldercare, suggesting that the use of daycare centers The design of family leave provisions, especially and home-based formats would be more compatible maternity leave, could also increase employers’ with prevailing standards. disincentives to hire women. There is no international standard for the design of family leave policies, with 3. Quality is important to potential users of formal different approaches based on length, portion paid and care services. The biggest challenge for both child- and unpaid, level of wage replacement, and source of eldercare service provision appears to be in the area of funding. Initial exploration of the issue reveals that the human resources, for example, finding trained and length of paid maternity leave in Serbia—the main paid qualified staff. leave available for parents—is higher (135 calendar days) than the global average and in the middle of the The rising demand for care services and relatively distribution among countries in the region with similar progressive views about their use in Serbia provide an income levels. When adjusting the length of maternity opportunity for the development of a formal care leave by wage replacement (at a 100 percent in Serbia), industry that could increase labor force participation it remains one of the highest in the region, 18 with the and productivity. In addition, a World Bank study slated government fully bearing the direct cost. Employers for 2018 will examine the effect of communication likely bear indirect costs, however, including the time campaigns on Serbian fathers’ engagement in child and finances invested to hire and train staff to replace development in order to gain insight into the women on maternity leave. Despite the existing relationship between behavioral communication and legislation, fathers are still not equal in their right to messaging. take parental leave due to entrenched gender stereotypes about traditional roles for women and Labor Taxation and Regulations men. Labor taxation policies and regulations also affect Finally, it is important to ensure that the labor law firmly women’s incentives to work and employers’ incentives reduces the potential for discrimination. For instance, to hire them.16 the law in Serbia does not explicitly mandate equal remuneration for work of equal value as is the case in The structure of labor taxation, in combination with the other countries in the region. 19 design of social benefits, can lead to disincentives to work. In Serbia, the “reference” wage that determines the minimum social contribution is not adjusted for hours worked, which means that social contributions are disproportionately high for part-time workers. 17 As 16 Arias et al. (2014). 18 World Bank, “Women, Business and the Law” (database), 2016, 17 Ibid. http://wbl.worldbank.org. 19 Ibid. Policy Options to Promote Women’s The same study recommends the introduction of mandatory training on gender equality, land rights, and Access to Economic Opportunities the gender implications of land administration for the staff in charge of implementing the Law on State Survey Policy options to tackle the inequalities outlined above and Cadaster; the establishment of automatic joint include: (i) improving access to assets and productive registration; and the introduction of measures to make inputs, (ii) providing access to child- and eldercare, (iii) registration services more accessible to rural and removing disincentives and barriers embedded in labor remote populations. taxation policies and regulations, and (iv) increasing the employability of women through effective active labor Addressing the current gender gaps in access to market policies and adequate skills and training. property will improve women’s access to finance and entrepreneurship, as they often lack the collateral to Institutions to promote gender equality. The obtain credit. Although existing opportunities could be Government of the Republic of Serbia formed the expanded, additional policies to promote women’s Coordination Body for Gender Equality in 2014 with a access to credit should also be explored. mission to manage efforts to achieve greater gender equality. A new draft Law on Gender Equality is being Access to formal child- and eldercare. International prepared and is expected to be enacted soon. Other evidence shows that the availability of affordable recent accomplishments include the implementation of childcare is positively correlated to both female labor the Strategy for Gender Equality 2016–2020, with its force participation and fertility.21 At the same time, accompanying Action Plan 2016–2018, as well as the robust evidence in both developing and developed development of the Guidance for Social Impact countries demonstrates that investing in early Assessment, which will provide evidence for decision childhood education has a significant impact on makers on the strengths and weaknesses of possible children’s development and their long-term labor and policy options based on their potential social impact, income outcomes. Affordable childcare lessens including on gender equality and among vulnerable women’s home-care burden and also increases the groups. opportunity cost of leaving the labor force. Beyond setting up the institutional framework, there Serbia is already implementing an expansion of publicly are several policy areas outlined below that are relevant provided childcare centers. Other policy options include to strengthening efforts to achieve women’s equal implementing public subsidies for private childcare access to economic opportunities. These do represent a provision and use; creating education and accreditation comprehensive list but instead point to several areas in programs to prepare caregivers and care- which it would be useful to focus. entrepreneurs; developing a system and plan to increase the quality of services with attention to costs, Access to productive inputs. Although the particularly the provision of quality eldercare; and implementation of tax incentives for couples to register revising the legal framework to be adaptable to the both names as property owners is a step forward, the demands and expectations of care. The fiscal existing legal framework for equal access to land and implications of the various approaches to promoting property could be further improved. A recent legal access to child- and eldercare also need to be assessment 20 of the current framework provides a considered. detailed review and puts forward recommendations on ways to close the gender gaps in access to land. For Labor taxation and regulations. It is key to ensure that instance, the Family Law should be amended to require labor taxation laws and regulations do not explicitly or written consent prior to any legal action that involves implicitly penalize women’s access to jobs and that the disposal of or any burden on matrimonial property. current provisions are fully implemented. The low share 20 GIZ and FAO (2016). 21 World Bank (2016c). of part-time workers among both women and men in between women and men in technical and socio- Serbia (4.8 and 3.1 percent, respectively) in total emotional skills (e.g., learning computer skills, adapting employment seems to be partly linked to regulations to new tasks, working in difficult situations, providing that create heavy burdens on part-time work, such as reliability) and to shed light on other gender-related the tax wedge and the level of the mandatory minimum considerations when hiring. 24 Gender differences in social security contribution. 22 employers’ views would likely make it more difficult for women to find a (good) job or build on-the-job skills Areas to focus on include (i) further facilitating flexible with the same success as their male counterparts. work arrangements, such as part-time work, that allow both women and men to combine work with family Cross-cutting policies areas responsibilities; (ii) ensuring that gender equality monitoring mechanisms are in place to enforce legal Social norms and discrimination. Policies are needed to protections and avoid discrimination at work on the rebalance household and family responsibilities grounds of sex, gender, pregnancy, family, and marital between men and women and to remove barriers for status, for example, by supporting the necessary human women stemming from prevailing social norms that resources of the Labour Inspectorate; and (iii) exploring limit their opportunities, even in cases where the legal options for revenue-neutral and targeted reductions in framework is in place, as it is in Serbia. Many discussions labor taxation, especially for low-wage and part-time with government and nongovernment stakeholders earners, groups in which women are overrepresented, persistently point to the significant challenges in to increase the advantages for women in holding a implementing existing legislation, with social norms as formal job. Finally, increasing the length of paternity an underlying driver. leave or giving additional incentives to fathers can help more evenly balance childcare responsibilities between Therefore, it is key to: men and women and contribute to leveling the playing field in the labor market. (i) Promote policies that foster co-responsibility between men and women, including promoting and Active labor market policies and adequate skills and monitoring the use of paternity benefits. Policy efforts training. Efforts to enhance the effectiveness of the to increase the availability of child- and eldercare will National Employment Strategy (NES) labor also help. intermediation services for employers and the unemployed could include training on discrimination (ii) Provide public policy incentives that promote and improvements in internal procedures to enhance women’s access to economic opportunities. This may services for Roma, especially Roma women. Finding a include offering incentives to hire and train women in good job or succeeding as an entrepreneur will be non-traditional sectors; increasing employers possible only if women have the skills that can awareness when hiring through, for example, gender complement job creation in the economy. Beyond certification programs or behavioral interventions to overall policies to improve the relevance and quality of address employers’ gender biases in the hiring process; education and training programs, relevant options for and providing information, training, and incentives for expanding women’s opportunities in this area include public servants and service providers working in vocational training, apprenticeship programs in relevant institutions (e.g., in cadaster offices with growing areas of the economy, and more training in regard to women’s property rights). non-traditional sectors. Data from the World Bank’s STEP Employer survey 23 implemented in Serbia are (iii) Influence aspirations and expectations through, for being analyzed to assess whether employers find gaps example: programs based on role models and 22 World Bank. “Women’s Access to Economic Opportunities in 23 As part of the Skills Towards Employability and Productivity (STEP) Serbia,” Social Inclusion and Poverty Reduction Unit (Washington, Skills Measurement Program. DC: World Bank, 2016). 24Cojocaru (2017). mentoring; media interventions (e.g., television and A review of policies on access to economic radio campaigns) to expose people to information and opportunities in Serbia reveals that there is role models; and/or the dissemination of information considerable room to improve coordination across on increased job opportunities for women. implementing stakeholders, which calls for increased efforts to document and monitor the landscape of Access to information. As part of efforts to increase the interventions. Importantly, it also shows that few employability of the population, it is important to interventions are evaluated at the outcome level (and provide information to young men and women that even fewer at a systematic rather than anecdotal level), could influence their schooling and school-to-work thus limiting the advance of knowledge on what transition decisions (e.g., information on the labor actually works to increase women’s access to economic market and returns to education), which can also be opportunities and how to better allocate resources. critical in shifting social norms that push women into However, unlike in other countries in the Western certain fields of study or occupations. Evidence for the Balkans, a majority of Serbia’s interventions reviewed region emphasizes the importance of accessing under the study have an M&E component, and several information and networks that can facilitate the have been rigorously evaluated. 25 transition to the labor market. This entails strengthening labor market information systems and How Can the World Bank Group career guidance services, including through public employment offices. Beyond labor market–relevant Help? information, providing training and information to women about, for example, their rights and the Over the past several years, the World Bank has aimed procedures involved in property registration and at building an evidence base to inform the gender inheritance can help close the implementation gap. equality agenda in Serbia, particularly with regard to gender gaps in access to economic opportunities. This Monitoring and evaluation. Improved monitoring and has included an analysis of the economic impact of evaluation (M&E) systems are essential to closing gender gaps in the labor market, 26 a review of and gender gaps in access to economic opportunities, consultations on potential policies to close the gender particularly as the core institutional and legislative gaps, 27 and a skills survey of employers with a strong frameworks for gender equality are already in place. gender focus. M&E systems allow policy makers to identify areas in which policy efforts should be increased or adjusted, as Based on this solid evidence, the World Bank is ready to well as areas of progress. They also promote the continue to support the Government of Serbia in availability and use of gender-disaggregated addressing the challenges that impede women’s equal information in relevant administrative and survey data, access to economic opportunities, which can, as a such as that from property registration and active labor result, lower the country’s growth prospects. market programs. Line ministries, alongside the national statistics office, are key contributors to References ensuring the production and monitoring of quality and timely gender-disaggregated data across topics and Arias, Omar S., Carolina Sánchez-Páramo, María E. sectors. Moreover, participatory approaches to M&E Dávalos, Indhira Santos, Erwin R. Tiongson, Carola Grun, provide opportunities to obtain useful feedback that Natasha de Andrade Falcão, Gady Saiovici, and Cesar A. can lead to needed adjustments in current programs Cancho. 2014. Back to Work: Growing with Jobs in and measures. Europe and Central Asia. 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