ABSTRACT
The economic changes that have followed the end of communist rule have been a mixed blessing for women. Although certain groups of women have benefitted, many women have suffered increased hardship and new difficulties in carrying out both their economic and domestic roles since 1989. In addition to being at greater risk for unemployment in all countries but Hungary and more likely to live in poverty, women also face new competition from men, increased demands for better performance, and more open discrimination at the workplace. The impact of the decline in production and drop in the standard of living that occurred in all of these countries immediately after the end of communist rule and still characterize economic life in many states, complicated women’s tasks of providing for the daily needs of their families and compounded the stress many women and members of their families felt as the result of rapid change and continued uncertainty in many areas of life. Many of the social benefits women received during 148the communist era have decreased or been eliminated. Single mothers and older women have been particularly hard hit by these changes.
In both the labor force and the home, traditional attitudes concerning gender roles have resurfaced and serve to legitimize gender inequality. As during the communist period, political factors, including women’s limited representation among political leaders and the nature of transition politics, also contribute to the different impact of the economic transition on men and women. The failure to take women’s particular perspectives into account in economic and social policy-making in turn has had important political repercussions.
Economic recovery and the growth of the private sector may lead to the creation of new jobs for women and increase the standard of living of families. However, economic recovery alone will not lead to greater equality between men and women. As in other developed economies, change in the extent of gender equality in the workplace and the home will depend on political as well as on economic factors.
