The global crisis caused a decline in economic activity, which triggered the process of adapting the labor market to a lower level of activity. During the crisis, the countries of the European Union responded by strengthening active interventions and reforms on the labor market. Slovenia also responded to the deterioration of the labor market situation by adopting measures of active employment policy and legal regulation. In Slovenia, the crisis in the period of 2008-2013 caused a decrease in the labor market activity rate, while the rate for men was more than 10 percentage points higher than for women. In 2009 and 2010, the unemployment rate in men exceeded the unemployment rate for women, which was due to the fact that there were affected sectors that employ mostly men. In 2012 and 2012, the unemployment rate reflected long-term trends and was higher among women. This situation can be attributed to the adopted austerity measures that had negative consequences for women. For the period before and also after the crisis, the exclusion of some groups, which include among other things the gender, is still evident despite the established equal opportunities laws. On the labor market, women are discriminated in the employment process, in certain professions, in promotion at work, in unequal salaries, they are in minority in politics, and for them, it is most difficult to deal with the reconciliation of professional and private life.
The employment rate of women in Slovenia is slightly better in comparison to the European Union. The proportion of women in politics around the world is slowly increasing, but the current situation in most European Union member states shows the dominant position of men. In Slovenia, women are in minority in leading positions and in the parliament. The Office for Equal Opportunities of the Republic of Slovenia is engaged in ensuring gender equality, equal employment opportunities, access to education, the choice of the professions, and the entry of women into politics.
Malta, Greece, and Italy have the largest differences of the labor activities on the basis of gender in the countries of the European Union. Extremely small differences of the working activity according to gender are in Finland and in Lithuania, and also in Sweden and in Latvia. The data suggests an improvement of the situation because the progress in the area of equal employment of women and their integration in the labor market is notable.
|