Gender and work during the market transition: The case of Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Russia

This dissertation asks whether the legacies of state-socialist gender equality continued during the transition to capitalism in Central Europe and Russia, or, alternatively, whether post-state socialist societies converged on the model of capitalism in the west, characterized by gender differences in access to paid work, gender differentiation in work hours, and gender gaps in pay. I compare labor market outcomes in Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland and Russia at three time points: 1988, 1993, and 2000. I rely on data from two cross-country surveys: "Social Stratification in Eastern Europe after 1989" (Szelenyi and Treiman 1993) and "Poverty and Social Structure in Transitional Countries" (Szelenyi and Emigh in 2000). Both data sets include nationally representative samples of individuals from Bulgaria, Hungary, Poland, and Russia. First I consider gender differences in access to paid work over time.; I find that while in 1993, women were less likely to have experienced job loss, by 2000, women with young children were significantly more likely to be out of a job than men. Next, I trace changes in work time throughout the region. I find that work hours exploded after 1989 and that part-time work increased only slightly. Finally, I ask whether the gender gap in earnings increased, decreased, or remained the same during the transition from state socialism to market capitalism. I find that evidence of a persistent gender gap throughout the 1990s. However, by 2000, professional women with university degrees had met or surpassed the earnings attainment of their male colleagues. I conclude by arguing that periods of massive social change create opportunities for previously underprivileged groups, including women, to achieve economic and social mobility. However, the realization of these opportunities depends upon social and political mobilization that can articulate group interests. During the market transition a feminist movement did not materialize and, as a result, women experienced downward mobility in the transitional labor markets.