Position of women in the labor market - trends in the Republic of Croatia and the European Union

Ovaj se diplomski rad bavi poloţajem ţena na trţištu rada, odnosno trendovima povezanim uz poloţaj ţena u Republici Hrvatskoj i Europskoj uniji, s ciljem utvrĎivanja postojanja diskriminacija. Poloţaj ţena na trţištu rada uvijek je bio lošiji u usporedbi s poloţajem muškaraca. Iako se kroz povijest dogaĎa pomak te se prava i prilike spolova izjednačavaju, razlike još uvijek postoje. Ţene su manje radno aktivne od muškaraca, imaju niţu stopu zaposlenosti i višu stopu nezaposlenosti, primaju niţu prosječnu plaću od muškaraca, te su manje zastupljene na zakonodavnim funkcijama i upravljačkim pozicijama. U Europskoj uniji i Republici Hrvatskoj postoji jasan pravni okvir koji jamči jednakost spolova na trţištu rada, no unatoč tome poslodavci kod zapošljavanja preferiraju muškarce, a daju im i više beneficija u odnosu na ţene zaposlenike. Značajnu ulogu imaju i tradicionalne rodne uloge koje ni danas nisu do kraja razbijene, a prema kojima ţenama ne bi trebala karijera biti prioritet, već briga o kućanstvu i djeci. Teorijski dio rada prikazuje poloţaj ţena kroz povijest na trţištu rada i unutar društva te detaljno analizira pravnu regulativu u Europskoj uniji i Republici Hrvatskoj. Za potrebe istraţivačkog dijela rada analizirani su podatci Drţavnog zavoda za statistiku i Statističkog ureda Europskih zajednica u razdoblju od 2003. do 2018. godine. Analizom podataka postavljene su dvije istraţivačke hipoteze koje su u kasnije u radu i potvrđene.This paper deals with the position of women in the labour market, ie the trends related to their position in the Republic of Croatia and the European Union with the goal of determining the existence of discrimination. The position of women in the labour market has always been worse than that of men. Although there have been positive changes and some degree of equalization of gender rights and opportunities, differences exist even today. Woman are less likely to participate in the labour market, their employment rate is lower and their unemployment rate is higher, on average they receive a lower pay than men, and are less present in legislative functions and management positions. Even though there is a clear legal framework that guarantees gender equality in the labour market in the European Union and in the Republic of Croatia, employers favor men over women. Traditional gender roles, which have not yet been fully broken, also have a significant role here. According to those role, a career shouldn't be a priority for a woman, she is supposed to put her husband, her children and her household first. The first part of the paper shows the position of women through history in the labour market and society in general and analyzes in detail the legal regulation of the matter in the European Union and in the Republic of Croatia. For the purpose of conducting a research for this paper, statistical data gathered and published by Eurostat and Croatian Bureau of Statistics in the period between 2003 and 2018 have been analyzed. Through the data analysis, two hypotheses have been defined, which were argued later in the paper