Position of Women in Montenegro |
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Introduction
During the past ten years Montenegrin economy underwent economic transformation, as well as serious social changes. This period is marked by the disintegration of former Yugoslavia, wars in the region, a large number of refugees and internal displaced persons (IDP's) who find shelter in Montenegro (at one moment they represented 12% of the total Montenegrin population, and that was actually the period of the greatest economic, social and political crisis). Since the economic and political collapse of former Yugoslavia, Republic of Montenegro suffered the loss of 57% of the economic power it had in 1989 (GDP per capita was 3000 USD). Since 1999 it started recovering slowly, with the annual increase of approximately 2% in the past two years. In 2002 GDP was only 63% of what it was in 1989, which influenced the drop in the living standard of the population in Montenegro and resulted in the reduced social safety of the citizens. Transition was marked by national and international politics, economic shocks that resulted in serious deterioration of productive activity, increase in inflation, official unemployment and participation of the informal sector (gray economy) in the overall economic activity. In January 2002 Montenegro introduced Euro as the official currency. Montenegro is currently part of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro, with the common Parliament, President and Council of Ministers. Council of Ministers acts in five fields: foreign affairs, defense, international economic relations, internal economic relations and protection of human and minority rights. These common functions of Serbia and Montenegro will be financed jointly for both in the percentage of contribution of each republic to the national GDP. Although the two republics have some common institutions, they still define economic, fiscal and monetary policy independently. After the 1999 elections, Montenegro started the process of economic reforms, much earlier than Serbia. These reforms were aimed at stabilizing prices, reducing budgetary deficit and elimination of irregularities in trade. With the introduction of German Mark as an official currency there has been a significant drop in the inflation rate. Despite the ambitious reforms Montenegro is characterized by high participation of the public sector in the total number of employed persons, thus, there is a strong dependence on donor assistance and other forms of financing in order to cover the existing level of consumption and investment. Many state enterprises are still non-profitable and require significant state subsidies in order to survive. Most of the companies are privatized, many workers in those companies are dismissed, especially women. High unemployment rate is still present, and those who work have low wages. There is a large number of pensioners and their average benefit is low. All this resulted in the increase of poverty in Montenegro, which represents 12% of the total population (absolute poverty), according to the international standards. Real poverty in Montenegro is much higher than what is defined in the DPRS document (Development and Poverty Reduction Strategy of Montenegro). According to that project the following categories of the poor have been defined:
Source: Draft PRSP and ISSP – Living standard and poverty in Montenegro, 2003. Social position of women in Montenegro There is no doubt that the position of women in Montenegro has improved since WW II. On the basis of the Constitution, women became equal to men in 1945, including the right to vote and be elected. In the self-management system women were recognized and respected in the society, but the traditional influence of men on the position of women in the family and society could still be felt. However, in that period women were more involved in politics and in other leading positions in the society, than today. In the past ten years, with the gradual introduction of market economy, social position of women in Montenegro deteriorated significantly. Not very many women occupied important positions, and men tried to push them out even more, thus, women became less and less represented in the decision-making bodies and their social status became almost problematic. Some people claimed that women are incapable of being managers, politicians, ministers, and that they do not know how to run business. However, the real situation is different. There is much more success in those businesses that are managed by women. Globally speaking, women are more efficient, socially more sensitive and more responsible than men. Despite all the positive characteristics, in this period of transition and reforms, women are more affected by all the changes than men. Position of women is best illustrated by the indicators of employment, unemployment and their participation in performing social and public functions, and similar. Republic of Montenegro has the population of 664.865 (June 30, 2002), out of which 51,8% are women. According to that, it should be expected that women participate with 45-48% in all the spheres of working and social life. Number of women in the Parliament of Montenegro was 7% in 1993, while it is 10,66% in 2003, which means that the participation of women in politics is slowly improving, which was definitely contributed to by women's NGO's, fighting for a better status of women in the society. In the Government of Montenegro there are 15,38% of women ministers, that is, two women are ministers – Minister of culture and Minister for foreign economic relations and EU integrations. For the first time in recent period a woman was elected State Prosecutor in Montenegro (this was reserved as a male position in the past). On the basis of case studies and data from the automobile dealer shops, 30% of women buy cars for themselves, while the remaining 70% of the customers are men (until 10 years ago it was a rare situation that a woman bought a car for herself). Also, on the basis of the case studies and data from the Real Estate Agency «AS» and Real Estate Agency ²Krstaš², in Podgorica, 20-25% of the owners of apartments are women, and this mostly involves smaller apartments. When an apartment is looked for, women are the ones who are consulted on the size, location, and similar, but after the purchase, men become registered owners. This is a reflection of tradition, where men are seen as the heads of the family, thus, the owners of real estate, as well. Due to the transformation of banks in Montenegro it was impossible to get any loan from them. In recent times, when the banks regained their position in the society, their status has been legally regulated, and they provide housing loans to citizens, with the payment period of 10-15 years, with a relatively high interest rate. Not very many women will be able to get a bank loan to build a house, buy an apartment, or similar, as they have no ownership over real estate, which is necessary as a mortgage for the loan. Statistical data by sex are not maintained for the above-mentioned activities, which creates difficulties in getting a real picture of the position of women in this respect, which, again, shows their status in the society. Education of women is, however, a good indicator of their status in the society. Education level among population above 25 years of age, by sex (data from 1991):
Source: Republican Statistics Agency, Statistical Yearbook – year 2000 On the basis of this data it can be seen that the level of education of the population is continuously increasing, and the gap between men and women is reducing, as well as the illiteracy of the population. There is a very low percentage of illiterate population, especially in the population category of 10-34 years of age. However, education level among some population groups s still low, especially among the poor, who start primary school, but never finish it. Approximately 5% of the Montenegrin population is considered «educationally poor», which means that they have not attended primary or secondary school. In the education system in Montenegro, that is, in the primary education, gymnasium, and vocational education there are 119.360 students enrolled. There are 7.485 teachers and professors hired for the teaching process, and together with the support staff this number goes up to 12.205 workers. Overview of the employed teaching staff in primary schools Table 1
Source: PRSP draft These indicators reflect slight increase in the number of teaching staff in primary schools, by 270 persons specifically, in the period from 1997/98 until 2002/03. University education among women On the basis of official statistics received through the 1991 Census, women represent 36,66% of the total number of students who graduated from University. On the basis of the data of the Ministry of education for 2002, out of the total number of enrolled children into pre-school institutions (11.432), primary and secondary schools (119.360) and the University (11.000), women represent 56%. This is a big improvement in the education of women as compared to the past. Employed in education by sex Table 2
Source: Statistical Yearbook 2002 Looking at the sex structure of education, it can be noted that more and more women are involved in the education sector. On the basis of the data from the Ministry of education and the Republican Statistics Agency, it can be noted that there is an increasing number of girls who finish primary schools (52,8% of the total number of students), both in cities and villages, and this is a significant improvement as compared to the past, especially in the villages. There are still cases in some villages where girls don't finish primary schools even though they have been enrolled, due to traditional and other views of their parents and the environment where they live. Luckily, this number is insignificant, so we have not presented any data on it here. With the increase of the standards in education coverage of female children with all levels of education and in all the communities will be higher. Position of women in the labor market One of the real indicators of emancipation of women in the society is their employment. In the post-war period of development one of the priorities in the society was faster employment of women. In the period 1948-1989, number of employed persons in the state sector was increased, among them there was an increasing number of women, thus in 1971 participation of women in the total number of employed persons was 28,2%, in 1982 – 35,5%, in 1989 – 38,7%, and in 1999 – 41,8%. General characteristics in the field of employment of women are positive in the long run until 1989 (if we look into the overall structure of the employed). In the past ten-year period there has been a reduction in the number of employees in the state sector, thus increasing specific problems of employment of women. In order to analyze more thoroughly the position of women in the labor market, it is necessary to say a bit more about the paid working hours of both sexes, especially of women. According to the Law on labor relations, paid working hours for both sexes, men and women, is 8 hours per day, which is 40 hours per week, where there is also a daily rest of 30 minutes during those working hours. This relates to full working hours of both sexes. There is no data on whether there is some overtime work performed, unless the company keeps such records in order to pay the workers accordingly. There is no research done in relation to the working hours on any grounds, so there is no data about it either. Currently performed census (November 15, 2003) contains this question working hours of the employed, so we can hope to get a clearer picture about that category in the near future. Working hours (for women and men – weekly)
On the basis of a case study, we have learned that women work 3,5 times more in the household (unpaid work) than men. This is a reflection of gender inequality within the family. Unpaid work is even less analyzed, and this primarily relates to voluntary activities and work in the household, and similar. In practice, there is a big difference between the unpaid work in the household between men and women. Women work 8-10 hours in the household on average, while men work 1-2 hours, which means that women work 6-8 hours more in the household than men every day. This is primarily the result of the traditional relations in the family, and the view of the role of women. Even today (although not as much as in the past), men look at women as perfect for household activities, even in relation to upbringing of children. Younger generation of men and women change those views, luckily, and perform most of the household activities together, even the ones related to care and upbringing of children. Slowly, but safely, this work in the family performed by men and women together will become practice among young couples and this will contribute to the better position of women in the family and in the society in general. Voluntary, professional and social work exist among both sexes, but there are no statistical records kept in this respect either. Also, there are no statistical data on part time work, except for some data related to the work of the disabled of the II category (4 hours per day), which is regulated by the Law on labor relations. However, the new Law abolished that right and proposed a different solution for the position of the disabled. The new Labor Law provides for new forms of work, such as work at home, work for several employers, full time work, part time work, and other forms. It can be expected that these forms of work will be implemented in case of both sexes, but especially in case of women. Due to the non-existing practice and no statistical data in the sphere of labor on the basis of gender, no data can be presented here in relation to the position of women from the aspect of time of their work engagement involving paid or voluntary work. Employment (1992 and 2002) Annual average
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook 2000 and 2002 Above-mentioned data show trends of reduction of employment in Montenegro in the past 10, that is, 11 years. In the period from 1992, when the employment was 135.587 until 2002, when the employment was 113.827, we can note that there has been a reduction of 16,04%, or in numbers - 21.760 workers. The reason for it is a reduced scope of economic activity, changes in the structure of population (constant reduction in the number of workers in the industry is followed by an increase in the number of pensioners, but there is an insufficient number of registered workers in the private sector). Among the registered workers in the industry sector, there is an estimate that 11.000 of them are technological surplus – workers who will be dismissed, as they are not needed in the company (some estimates say that their number is as high as 20.000). Generally speaking, in the above-mentioned period, the average number of employed women is 40% of the total number of workers. All the social, economic and transitional changes have affected the employment of women. Women have more difficulties in finding employment than men, especially now that most of the state owned enterprises have been privatized. A woman is still seen as a worker who will be more absent from work due to family obligations, who will take sick leaves to take care of family members, and the new employers don't accept that. This is hidden discrimination of women at the workplace, without any official records, but women and their families feel it as a big burden on their backs. Employment by sex in the period 1992 – 2002. (in percentages)
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook 2000 and 2002. This data clearly shows the inequality in employment of women and men, although female population in the total number of Montenegrin inhabitants participates with 51,8%, which is a slight majority. On the basis of the traditional division of jobs by sex, many posts are reserved in advance for men, usually according to the education level, tradition (such as the jobs of pilots, captains of ships, drivers, and similar). In recent times, these traditional barriers have been destroyed, and younger generation of workers is asking for changes, so now many jobs that used to be reserved for men are now open to women, which is encouraging (e.g. women police officers, miners, etc). Annual average employment in all ownership sectors by field of activity in 2001
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook 2002. Data analysis shows that women are mostly employed in the sector of health and social protection (81,5%), then in financial mediation – 66,7%, in hotels and restaurants – 55,2%, and in education – 53,3%. These activities are typically female ones, thus women are mostly occupying these positions. There are some indicators that these relations will change in the future, with the change in tradition and position of women in the society, so women will become more involved in the activities that used to be predominantly male in the past. Employment by sex and type of activity in the period 1991 – 2001.
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook 1993. and 2002. Employment rate In the past 10 years there has been a constant fall in the employment rate, which can be seen from Table 1. There is a significantly lower employment of men, with a bit higher participation of women, and the reasons can be found in the fact that many companies were closed, bankrupt, and similar, thus, many jobs disappeared and workers were dismissed. This is a characteristic of the period of transition, which resulted in many problems in the sphere of labor, such as the increase in the unemployment, especially among women.
Source: Some data are taken from the Statistical Yearbook (1993-2002), and some from the Employment Agency Employment rate was calculated by taking the number of employed persons in the analyzed period and dividing it by the number of inhabitants with the capacity to work (age 15-64). Official institutions (Statistics Bureau of Montenegro, Employment Agency of Montenegro) do not disclose the unemployment rate, but only the number of unemployed persons. This rate was calculated for the period 1991-2001. Wages of the employees in Montenegro are not statistically covered on the basis of sex, that is, there are no gender statistics in the companies where they work or at the level of the Republic. Practice shows that wages of women are 18% lower than the wages of men. During the past two years, average wage at the level of the Republic was not published. The last time it was officially announced was in June 2002, and it was 118,57 Euros. Average net wage by field of activity for 2001 In Euro
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook 2002. Wages in different fields of activity for the mentioned period are very low, and the Republican average is 107,80 Euros, where 50% of these sectors have wages below the average, and 50% are slightly above the average wage in the Republic. Wage increase in 2002 was reduced and brought down to what is realistic, which during the year 2001, wage increase was partially financed by the significant international assistance, which positively reflected the position of the workers. In order to stabilize the economy, in 2002 the wage increase was reduced. This partially resulted from the reduced inflation rate in 2002, which came down to one figure number, and we can expect it to drop down even further in the medium term. Wage level, wage types and coverage of the consumer basket with the average net wage are some of the basic indicators of poverty in an economy. Average net wage estimates in Montenegro vary. According to the estimates of the Republican Statistics Agency, average wage in June 2002 was 118,57 Euros, while the ISSP from Podgorica estimated it to be 199 Euros. Coverage of the consumer basket with the average salary, according to the official statistics, for June 2002 was 46,72%, and according to ISSP wage coverage of monthly consumption of food and drinks of the population was 46,2% during the year 2002. These indicators show that the regular incomes are very low and hardly satisfy some 40% of the needs of the population, maybe even less than that, and due to that population is faced with a high poverty risk, which is usually mitigated by additional salaries from the informal sector. It can be concluded that a large number of workers have low wages and the worker is obliged to provide lacking funds through additional activities, either in the gray economy sector or in some other way, in order to satisfy basic needs of the family. Discrimination of women at the work place On the basis of indicators on employment of women, their low participation in the management structures in the companies and institutions, it can be noted that there is strong discrimination of women in respect to their professional promotion and other aspects of work, as shown by the following table: Vertical discrimination of women
Source: Ministry of education of the Republic of Montenegro Health Institute of the Republic of Montenegro Ministry of foreign affairs of the Republic of Montenegro This data shows open discrimination on vertical and horizontal levels, in respect to the managerial positions in very important fields, where women are mostly employed, such as health, education and similar. On the basis of data from Draft PRSP, only 7,2% of women perform managerial tasks in the companies where they work, which is an insignificant number as compared to the number of employed women with the managerial capacity in relation to the total population. Women are usually managers in small and medium size companies with the small number of workers, and with a low economic power, which means that these 7,2% shows that women are engaged only so that it cannot be said that they are ignored in this respect, and not because they are less capable of performing managerial jobs. Unemployment by gender Unemployment of the population with the capacity to work is a national problem in Montenegro. Employment Agency of Montenegro has 80.548 persons registered as unemployed. Main characteristics of unemployment in Montenegro are: unfavorable ratio of the employed and the unemployed, long waiting for employment, gender inequality in relation to employment possibilities, regional disharmony, high participation of youth in the number of unemployed, structural disharmony between the supply and demand of the labor force, high participation of illegal work and high participation of the workers who are no longer needed, that is, technological and economic surplus workers. According to the official records, from the aspect of relationship between the unemployed and the number of active inhabitants in 2002, unemployment rate in Montenegro was 30,4%, or 20,6% among men, and 40,6% among women. Permanent employment is one of the main characteristics in Montenegro. Thus, according to data from 1992, 82,3% of the unemployed are waiting for employment over one year, 59,2% are waiting more than 5 years, 25,6% are waiting over 8 years, while there are 62,1% of the unemployed with no work experience. According to the data from the Labor Force Survey, long-term unemployment is present in 86,9% of the cases as compared to total unemployment. Employment is usually awaited for 4 years in Montenegro. According to official statistics 24% of people below 25 years of age are waiting for employment. Average age of the currently unemployed persons is 33. Labor market in Montenegro is characterized by a whole set of regional disharmonies in structural and dynamic sense. Thus, participation of the number of unemployed persons in the northern part of the Republic in total unemployment between 1993 and 2002 has gone down from 58,5% to 52,0%, and in the middle part it has increased from 42,5% to 45,3%, while in the southern part it has gone up from 13,0% to 17,5%. Increase in the number of the unemployed in the middle and southern part of the Republic as compared to the northern part is, primarily, the consequence of the migrations of the population, which is still ongoing. Participation of women in the total number of the unemployed (%) (Data from 1992– 2003) Table 1.
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook 1992–2002 Data from Table 1 shows that in the past 10 years there has been a high unemployment rate among women. The highest unemployment rate for women is noted in 2002 – 60,6%, which is explained by the large influx of female labor force on the basis of technological and economic surplus workers in the companies that have been privatized and where women were dismissed from work, as well as a result of the natural increase in the number of female workers (coming out of school). In practice, women wait longer for employment than men. Causes of such a discriminatory status are multiple. Unemployment by sex (1992 – 2002) Table 2
Data from Table 2 shows the difference in percentages, related to the unemployment by sex, which can be interpreted in several ways. In order to reduce the differences between men and women in relation to the unemployment rate, it is necessary to achieve better family and social standard that would enable women to get a job more easily and to perform it more easily. Also, it is necessary to be more aware of women's problems, to create legal preconditions for gender equality, as well as to develop knowledge in the field of gender studies. It is necessary to develop services in order to assist the needs of modern working women (better family services, preschool institutions for children and institutions that care for the elderly, and similar). Also, it is necessary to eliminate discrimination at the time of employment and in promotion possibilities, sexual blackmail and other negative things. One encouraging fact is that there is an increase in the number of women entrepreneurs, which affects the unemployment of women, and there is also an increase in the number of women taking employment loans, and similar. One of the most important things is, surely, the introduction of adequate legal regulations that would sanction any form of violation of the right to work, on one hand, and that would stimulate responsibilities, as well as rights of the workers on the basis of employment, on the other hand. Characteristics and specificities of unprotected work Social and demographic characteristics of unprotected work Structure according to sex In the total number of workers in the informal economy, men participate with 50,74% and women with 49,26%. Age structure Most of the workers in the informal sector belong to the age group of up to 25 years old – 36,5%, and 44,4% of them belong to the age group of 55 years and above (according to the Survey on informal economy). Qualifications of the workers Most of the workers have primary school education – 47% of them, or have only vocational training as ordinary workers – 42,8%, while there are 11,5% of the workers with University education. According to profession, most of them are construction workers – bricklayers – 75%, then 50% of waiters, salesmen – 25,4%, and the lowest is the number of administrative workers. Territorial coverage The highest number of workers engaged in the informal sector is found in the southern part of the Republic – 39,4%, while in the northern part the participation of informal work is 21,3%. Sectoral coverage Looking at different sectors, it can be said that the highest number of informal workers is seen in the field of catering – 41,6%, civil works – 38,5% and trade – 25,7%, while the number is lowest in the field of transportation. Survey shows that there is a slightly higher number of men working in the informal sector – 33% than women – 28%. Then, younger workers of up to 25 years of age, as well as the older ones over 55 years of age are forced to work in this sphere of work for purely existential reasons. Main reasons for engagement in the informal sector are: - provision of funds for life - inability to find legal employment - long period of waiting for employment - loss of permanent job - insufficient salary at the legal job. Duration of employment in the informal sector Up to 2 months - 6,8% 2-6 months - 16,1% 6 months-1 year - 27,6% 1-2 years - 14,6% and more than 2 years - 34,9% Salaries in the informal sector Salaries of the workers usually range from 100-200 Euro per month. A smaller number of workers (approximately 20%) receive 200-300 Euro. Salaries are paid out regularly only to some 85,8% of the workers and these salaries are higher than the ones in the formal sector by approximately 30% (the difference is in the amount of taxes in contributions that are not paid to the state). Working hours vary. From 8-12 hours for 40,2% of the workers, more than 12 hours for 4% of them, up to 4 hours for 2,2% of the workers and from 4 to 8 hours for 53,6 of them. On the basis of the above-mentioned data it is clear that these workers are deprived of the basic labor and social rights, they are exploited by the employer, without any social security. In order to legalize this kind of work, that is, to reduce the number of problems related to registration of workers and payment of all the contributions for them by the employer, the state started an action and reduced taxes and contributions for the first year of employment of the newly registered workers. Government of Montenegro, as well as CITUM, will work on the implementation of certain measures in order to reduce the problem of informal work to the lowest possible level, as this is in their mutual interest. This is the way to make this a priority issue for the society and to include as many actors in the process of solving this problem as possible. Pensions In the Republic of Montenegro the right to pension is based on the Law on pension and disability insurance. In August 2003 there were 89.750 pensioners (age, disability and family pensions), with the average pension of 112,87 Euros. The lowest age pension for the full number of years of work experience was 107 Euro in this period, and limited pension for a small number of beneficiaries (approximately 91 of them) was 403 Euros. In the structure of age and disability pensioners, there are 41.917 men and 23.038 women, which is 81,95%. Average pension of the age and disability pension beneficiaries is 129,29 Euros for men, and 106,52 Euros for women, or 21,37% lower for women than for men. Average age pension is 137,83 Euros, average disability pension is 99,66 Euros, and average family pension is 90, 87 Euros. Family pension is awarded to the family of a deceased worker (spouse, children and other members of close family, in accordance with the Law), and it was not analyzed from gender aspect at this occasion. In the labor sphere, there are more men employed than women, thus there are more men as pension beneficiaries, and the situation is the same from the aspect of salary level. Higher salaries of men are later followed by higher retirement benefits. Jobs performed by women are usually less complex than the ones performed by men, thus they are valued less from the aspect of salary calculation, and this results later in a lower retirement benefit. Level of retirement benefit is not sufficient for existence in case of most of the pensioners, thus the Republican fund for pension and disability insurance awards a number of pensioners with the lowest benefit one-time only financial assistance, from time to time, through the local associations of pensioners. There is no statistical data from the gender aspect in relation to this type of assistance, thus we cannot say how many women received it. According to some estimates, 10-12% of the pensioners provide the lacking funds for normal existence through the engagement in the informal sector. On the basis of the Law on pension and disability insurance, apart from pension, citizens have other rights, such as: financial assistance on the basis of physical disability of the worker in 8.269 cases, financial assistance for the disabled of the 2nd category on the basis of part time work (4 hours) for 689 workers, then disabled at work of the 3rd category and there are 2.034 of them according to the register of the Employment Agency, and they are awaiting employment and in the meantime receiving financial assistance in the amount of 65% of the minimum wage, which is 32 Euros monthly. These are the so-called derived rights, financed by the Republican Pension Fund. The analysis shows that the existing pension system does not provide adequate protection to the elderly and that it results in the unfair distribution of assets. Every society should decide what is the optimal level of redistribution of funds from the younger to the elderly, from the rich to the poor, from the capable to the incapable. Balance must be achieved between sufficient revenues for the elderly and sufficient assets in the hands of those capable of production. We need a balanced approach, in order to secure equal treatment of different generations, thus providing for minimum social security for those who can no longer work, and at the same time, to provide enough funds for economic growth and development. In the last few years, funds collected as contributions participated with 60% in the total revenues of the Fund necessary for the payment of retirement benefits, and the remaining 40% were provided from the Budget of the Republic. Due to that we have started the reform of the pension system and the new law was adopted (29.09.2003) on pension and disability insurance, which is much more restrictive than the previous one, and the implementation of this law will start on 01.01.2004. So, practice will show after some time what are the levels of protection of the elderly secured by this Law. Table 1 – Data on the number of the insured from 1992 – 2000
Source: Pension Fund The analysis shows that this big increase in the number of pensioners is a big burden for the economy, and at the same time it causes other consequences, such as evasion of payment of contributions, increase of gray economy and increased participation of pension insurance expenditures in GDP, etc. Table 2 – Number of pensioners, structure and average benefit for August 2003
Source: Pension Fund On the basis of this data it can be concluded that the age pension users are the most common ones, which was not the case in the past, where the largest group were disability pension users. Table 3 – Size of pension
Source: Pension Fund According to this data it can be concluded that due to difficult economic situation in the past 10 years, there has been a sudden increase in the number of pensioners, in the way that many companies have used the institute of buying the remaining number of years until retirement for their workers, in order to release them, thus since 1990 approximately 6.000 workers were retired on these grounds. At the same time, it can be concluded that there is an unfavorable ration of the number of pensioners and the number of workers of 1:1,3; there is also high participation of the expenditures of the Pension Fund in GDP – 17%, etc. Social support to women Coverage of children with preschool education and upbringing by age, for the age group 1-7 Preschool network in Montenegro consists of 20 institutions. There are 175 children per building and 35 children in a group. There is a difference between different areas. Central part of the Republic is the most burdened one, and the burden is smaller in the northern part of the Republic. According to age, 90,8% of the kids are of the age 3-7, while 9,2% are groups below 3 years of age (nursery). On the basis of the official data coverage of children from 1-7 years of age is as follows: 1975/76 covered 7% of children up to 7 years old 1982/83 ² 13% 1999/00 ² 19,04% 2000/01 ² 21,32 2002/03 ² 22% Source: - Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook for 2002 - Ministry of education of Montenegro Data shows that coverage of children with preschool institutions is slowly increasing. This is, primarily, due to the lack of space that is currently 1,89 m2 per child, while the existing pedagogical standards prescribe 8 m2 per child. Due to that, number of children in groups is much higher than the normative. Thus, there is still a big gap between the capacity of the preschool institutions network and the needs of the parents for this form of care for children. This low level of coverage of children with preschool institutions (nursery and kindergartens) reduced the possibility for higher employment among women, as many of them are not able to provide adequate care for their children in some other way. To be honest, in Montenegro, apart from the official preschool institutions network, there are a number of private kindergartens in the education system, for children between the age 3 and 7, but for a high compensation, which makes these services inaccessible to many parents. If we wish to secure higher employment of women in the future, it will be necessary to provide space for nursery and kindergartens, as well as to develop adequate social services, that is family support services. Children born in marriage or not within marriage structure (1993 – 2002.) In Montenegro we still have a patriarchal family and the institute of marriage is still traditionally respected as a form in which children are born. However, children born in marriage or outside such a structure are equal in their rights, thus, there are no problems from this aspect in order to achieve their legal rights. But, irrespective of the reasons that have caused to persons not to get married, children from these kinds of communities – non-marital ones are still faced with the lack of understanding of the social environment they live in. On the other hand, in recent times there has been an increase in the number of non-marital units in which children are born, which is a reflection of the change in tradition and change of the patriarchal view of the family in Montenegro. The data in the following table best shows the type of changes that are happening in the Republic in relation to the children born in marriage or outside such a structure. Children born in marriage or not within marriage structure 1993 and 2002 Table 1
Source: Republican Statistics Agency Data shows that in 2002 there were 16,53% of children born outside marriage structure, which is 54% higher than in 1993, and this clearly proves that the occurrence of non-marital unit as a family model is slowly being accepted by the young couples. Number of single parents There is no data on the number of single parents, as the official statistics do not follow this. ISSP research of family situation, undertaken in 2003, shows that single parents represent 5,7% of the total population. These are mostly women as single parents, with one or two children that they have to care for, with the help of their families (parents, brothers, sisters and other members). Single parents have some assistance provided by the society through the system of social and child protection, which is realized as increased child allowance, or through material allowance for single parents if they have no other source of income. There are also some other forms of social care for children, such as free summer vacations, winter vacations, one-time-only financial assistance, free provision of school textbooks, and other. But, irrespective of all that, although they are present as a category in labor and social legislation, as well as in the General Collective Agreement in the part related to paid leave related to care for children, this is still not the adequate system of social protection of parents and their children. It can be expected that the reform of labor and social legislation reform that is underway will resolve the status of single parents in a quality way. Average number of children in families. There are no official statistics on this issue. There are some estimates and researches undertaken by some institutions in Montenegro. So, here is the data published by ISSP (Institute for Strategic Studies and Prognoses) – Household Survey, which shows average number of children (up to 15 years of age) in families in Montenegro: Roma 2.61 children per family Refugees 0.72 IDP's 0.78 Residents 0.57 Total in Montenegro 0.61 In order to analyze this occurrence in more detail, it is necessary to give more information about the birth rate in Montenegro. Birth and death rate in Montenegro per 1000 inhabitants Table 1.
Source: Republican Statistics Agency – Statistical Yearbook for 2002 Analysis of data presented in Table 1 shows that the birth rate in Montenegro is still showing positive trend, although some municipalities show negative rate of population increase, such as Žabljak, Plužine, Šavnik, Cetinje and Andrijevica. Data collected on this issue shows that in 7 other municipalities in Montenegro there is a small birth rate, close to negative: Danilovgrad, Kotor, H. Novi, Pljevlja, Kolašin and Mojkovac. So, more than one half of Montenegrin municipalities have a reduced rate of population growth right now. Contrary to them, in some municipalities this rate is much higher, such as in Rozaje (421 babies born, and 121 died). In other Montenegrin municipalities, in the northern and central part of Montenegro there are twice as many children born than those that die, which contributes to the increase in the population growth rate. In 2002 there were 8.494 children born in Montenegro, while 5.524 persons died. On the basis of these indicators, population of Montenegro was increased only by 2.970 inhabitants last year. All this shows that Montenegro is faced with such a demographic process where the natural birth rate is at the edge of becoming negative. Population policy is an important question for every state; thus, statistics on birth rate are followed closely in order to maintain the optimal population growth rate. In that sense, certain measures of population policy are defined that will result in population increase, especially in the municipalities with the negative population growth rate. It is well known that with the lower number of child births every society becomes older and less capable to create new values. Thus, selfish views that one cannot provide enough funds to support one or two children, will result in a situation where those children will not be able to provide for better life of their own children tomorrow, as there will simply be no work force available. Renowned demographic experts, economists, sociologists and analytics say that the white plague is dangerous for every society, and it is storming through most of Europe right now. This trend is explained by the destruction of villages, tradition, destruction of families, increase in social pathology, difficult economic situation in the family and society in general. There are many persons who feel that the increase in white plague is also the result of giving women the right to interrupt pregnancy. All these reasons are present in Montenegro, as well, and must be solved quickly in order to avoid negative rate of population growth, which does not allow even for basic reproduction. Sexual harassment of women at the workplace According to positive legal regulations in Montenegro, problem of sexual harassment at work is not regulated by law, nor by any other bylaw, which is a big problem in relation to protection of women in the sphere of labor. It is a fact that Criminal Act of Montenegro regulates rape and mistreatment within marriage by a spouse and punishment is defined for such actions. However, in practice it is difficult to prove this, and to punish the offender. By the end of 2003 we expect to adopt changes and amendments of the Criminal Act of Montenegro, and the Association of working women »Woman Today« within CITUM will submit an initiative to the Legislative committee of the Parliament of Montenegro to add an article in the Criminal Act that would relate to sexual harassment of women at the workplace. We expect this initiative to be accepted by the responsible committee and the deputies in the Montenegrin Parliament. On the basis of the research undertaken by Center for entrepreneurship and development of Montenegro, related to the discrimination of women in the process of employment and at the workplace, obtained results show that there is sexual harassment at work. It is seen in excessive jokes made by men, in demands to dress provocatively, comments related to the way a woman looks, touching, a director insisting on having a meeting, in the form of letters, invitations and messages to women, following or spying on them, open invitations to have sex, and similar. These things happen in practice, but not to a great extent, thus, they should be prevented from spreading if not in other ways, than through legal regulations and criminal prosecution of the offenders. Case study based on visits to several boutiques, cafes, where primarily young women are employed, included interviews with employed women. The following questions were asked – Is there any sexual harassment at work, as well as blackmails? The answer was shyly presented to be YES, without an explanation, which proves that this occurrence is present in the sphere of labor, especially among private employers in the fields of catering, trade, where mostly young women are employed. If it happens that a case of blackmail or sexual harassment occurs at the workplace, this usually results in a person leaving that job, and the offender is not punished, and even the closest family of the young women is never informed about it. *** This research shows that the position of women in the labor market, in the society, and family is inadequate (bad) as compared to their contribution in all the segments of life and work. In order to change this situation to improve the position of women, it is necessary, among other things, to do the following:
REFERENCES: Draft PRSP and ISSP – Living standard and poverty in Montenegro, 2003 Republican Statistics Agency, Statistical Yearbook 1992–2002 Republican Statistics Agency, Statistical Yearbook – year 2000 Republican Statistics Agency, Statistical Yearbook – year 2002
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