Using company-level data from the Czech Republic dating from the years 1998, 2002, and 2004, the article examines whether the introduction of legislative measures aimed at gender equality in connection with the country’s accession to the European Union had significant effects on gender wage gaps. The main conclusion of the analysis is that within-job wage discrimination is a significant factor in the Czech labour market and that there were no substantive changes during the period studied. Women doing the same job in the same company earn about 10 per cent less than men in the Czech Republic. Much of the gender wage gap can be explained by horizontal and vertical gender segregation of the labour market. The lowest gender wage gaps are found in firms and groups of employees that are representative of or have strong ties to the socialist past. The article concludes with speculations about whether motherhood and the double-burden of women, combined with the lack of respect and authority accorded the path dependent legal system, results in legislative changes having little impact on practices in Czech society and in persistence gender wage discrimination., Alena Křížková, Andrew M. Penner, Trond Petersen., 3 tabulky, and Obsahuje bibliografii
A structural look at the employment of women with young children shows that this group is marginalized in the labour market when it is unable or only with difficulty is able to find employment in the labour market, as the current labour market revolves around the principle of independent, fully flexible individuals unencumbered by any obligations outside work. What significance in their lives do these women ascribe to being mothers and what significance do they assign to work? How does the perception of the relationship between work and family influence how they define for themselves the combination of these two spheres of life? How does this group of women see their opportunities for finding work in the labour market? Answers to these questions were sought from an analysis of 29 semi-structured interviews carried out in 2006 with women on parental leave or women just returning to work from leave, who had taken a requalification course. Their view is the view from “below”, which is a legitimate one, but given that it mainly relates to their own experiences or the experiences of others in their social surroundings there may be limitations to it. The potential limitations in this view are pointed out in the article’s conclusion., Hana Maříková., and Obsahuje bibliografii
The paper addresses the problem of growing uncertainties in the Czech labour market over the past 20 years with regard to the specific conditions of unskilled women struggling to integrate their paid work and unpaid work. The economic uncertainties and growing levels of global competition in production increase pressure for a transformation and flexibilisation of workforce. Actors occupying marginalised positions in the labour market tend to have lower levels of social capital and lower levels of work experience and education. At the same time, these people, including mothers caring for young children, find it difficult to cope with the increasing pressure for productivity and flexibility. The socioeconomic marginalisation of unskilled mothers is further strengthened by measures of the state’s social policy. The analysis at hand is based on three biographic interviews on the work trajectories of women whose highest level of education is vocational or lower. A biographic approach makes it possible to analyse the impact of structural and institutional conditions and social and cultural processes on the work and life trajectories of respondents. Their testimonies reveal the mechanisms of gender discrimination, social exclusion and subordination that unskilled mothers have to face in their personal lives and careers, and the strategies and resources they employ in order to cope with their situation., Lenka Formánková, Alena Křížková., Obsahuje bibliografii, and Anglické resumé