Fight for equality which is not to be reduced to just one day a year
It is marked all over the world, this year celebrates its 114th birthday, and was born in the United States. We are, of course, talking about the International Women's Day, which since 1909 has been synonymous with global advocacy efforts for the equity and equality of women in society, and a manifest of all their achievements.
Is there any progress in women's rights after more than a century of struggling for them, or are there areas where inequality between women and men still exist?
Official statistics emerges as an important factor in taking stock of social changes and its task is to monitor and observe trends in order to make conclusions and decisions based on relevant data. Population, education and the labour market are statistical areas that can help us portray women, and it is particularly interesting to look at demographic trends over a longer period.
Looking back half a century: What became of women in Croatia?
On average, I am 46 years old, I get married and give birth for the first time at 29, and I am expected to live at least until 79 - I am a woman in Croatia!
According to 2021 Census data, the number of women in Croatia amounted to 2.0 million and they made up 51.8% of the total population. Over decades of observation, this trend has proven constant and the share of women has always been slightly higher than the share of men.
There are no significant changes detected in the ratio of the number of live-born girls and boys - girls have always been slightly fewer and their share is around 48%. However, what is clearly evident is a significant drop in the total number of live births, including girls, whose number in 2021 almost halved compared to 1971.
Apart from the fact that fewer and fewer children are being born, there is a visible trend of aging of the entire population. When taking into account the average age of women, it has increased by as much as 10.5 years in the last 50 years, i.e. from 35.5 years in 1971 to 46.0 years in 2021.
This is perhaps best illustrated by the aging index, an indicator showing the percentage of people aged 60 and over compared to the population under 20 years of age. As shown in the graph, the threshold value of 100 was surpassed at the turn of the century, indicating that for every older woman there is one younger woman. More precisely, in the last thirty years of the 20th century, the share of women aged 60 and over was smaller compared to those under 20, and since 2001, the share of women aged 60 and over has been increasing.
Another notable trend is that the average age of leaving parental home is getting higher and higher. According to Eurostat data for 2021, women in Croatia leave their parental home at the average age of 31.8. This places us almost at the very top of countries where women leave their parental home at the highest average age. Only women in Portugal leave the parental home at a higher age, precisely at the age of 32.7. In contrast, the country with the lowest average age where women leave the parental home is Sweden, already at the age of 18.8.
The same trend is visible with the data on the average age of brides at first marriage and the average age of mothers at first birth, with the progressive age increase in both cases. In particular, the age at which women are entering into marriage is rising, and this age has increased by as much as 6.9 years in the observed fifty-year period. It is much the same if we look at the age of mothers at first birth. In 1971, women gave birth at an average age of 22.6 years, and by 2021 this age rose to 29.6 years.
On the positive side, the quality of life has generally improved over the decades, and the development of science and technology has favoured early diagnosis and prevention of diseases, which has consequently considerably increased life-expectancy. Compared to 1971, when the life expectancy for women was 72.3 years, in 2021 it reached 79.6 years.
Equal number of girls and boys at lower levels of education, but more women graduate
If we look at women within the scope of the education statistics at the beginning of the pedagogical and school year 2021/2022, it is evident that there are as many girls as boys at lower levels of education, while the share of enrolled female students in the academic year 2021/2022, and those who graduated in 2021, is still slightly higher than of their male counterparts.
As far as women implementing educational programs are concerned, it is noteworthy that their share decreases with the level of education of the institution which employs them. Namely, they are most represented at the lowest level of education, while their share is the smallest among teachers and teaching assistants at higher education institutions.
Women earn more than men in only two activities
What is the position of women on the labour market in general? The top three activities with the largest number of employed women in legal entities in 2021 are: Wholesale and retail trade, where 115 thousand of women were employed, followed by Education with 95 thousand, and Human health and social work, employing 82 thousand women. When observed by shares, the highest share of women in 2021 was in Education (79.2%), followed by Human health and social work (78.4%), and Financial and insurance activities (68.9%) coming in third.
As regards earnings, the average net earnings for women in legal entities in 2021 was 911 euros, or more accurately by 66 euros less than the average earnings for men. The three activities where women earned the highest net earnings in the same year are: Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply (1 216 euros), Financial and insurance activities (1 171 euros) and Information and communication activities (1 169 euros); and in two activities they were paid more than their male colleagues: Construction, where women earned an average of 10% higher net earnings, and Water supply, sewerage, waste management and remediation activities, 0.8% higher.
We wish all women a happy International Women's Day, with a reminder that the fight for women's rights and their more equal position in society is not to be reduced to just one day a year!
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