Bulgaria offers the best conditions for women on the labor market, while the Czech Republic is among the worst, with France, Spain, and Germany in the middle of the ranking of 30 European countries, according to a study commissioned by the British marketing agency Reboot. The study chose the number of women in management positions, salary conditions, and the form of maternity leave as evaluation criteria.
“Overall results suggest that Europe has made some progress on gender equality in the workplace. Balkan countries such as Bulgaria and Croatia have ranked high, indicating improvements. However, disappointment in the form of poor placement in Western European countries such as Germany and Denmark shows that progress towards gender equality in Europe is still slow,” said Reboot chief Naomi Aharony.
The agency assessed three areas based on data from the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE), the World Economic Forum (WEF), and information from the World Population Review server. In each area, the country could score a maximum of 100 points. At the top, Bulgaria scored 236.6 points, boosted in particular by the maximum gain of 100 points under the conditions of maternity leave, which lasts at least 410 days in Bulgaria, which is the longest maternity leave in the world and provides an income of 90 percent of the original salary.
Czechia was overtaken by 21 states in the evaluation, as it scored only 110 points out of 300, while in the field of equal opportunities it gained only ten points. “In terms of women in leadership positions and economic opportunities, the Czech Republic has let its women down. The country has only 11.15 percent of women in management positions, and in terms of women’s opportunities compared to men, the Czech Republic is among the five lowest,” the report states.
However, many Western European countries, including Belgium, Germany, and Austria were found in the unflattering bottom ten. Slovakia finished in fourth place, together with Norway.
Title image: A worker adjusts brocade at the Veba textile factory in Broumov, Czech Republic, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012.
