DETERMINANTS OF WOMEN’S EMPLOYMENT IN THE REGION OF SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SERBIA: AN ECONOMETRIC APPROACH

During time, women’s participation in the labour markets all over the world has increased. However, gender differences in the level of employment still exist, especially in underdeveloped and developing countries. Since empirical evidence shows that a higher degree of women’s employment has many positive effects on the economy, it is of great importance for such countries’ governments to create mechanisms for increasing it. These mechanisms are especially important for the Republic of Serbia, since women’s employment is still lagging behind men’s employment. On the interregional level, the gender discrepancies in employment are even larger, which slows down the development of the country as a whole. In order to create effective strategies and mechanisms which will increase the degree of women’s employment in such regions, it is of great importance to discover which factors currently determine whether women will be employed or not. Since the problem of women’s unemployment is particularly noticeable in the Region of Southern and Eastern Serbia, this paper aims to provide an analysis of the basic factors of women’s employment in this region, so as to raise awareness about these factors and shed light on possible employment policies that could be designed accordingly. These policies are expected to enhance the economic development of this region and the country as a whole. For this purpose, primary research was conducted on a sample of 678 women. The results of the study indicate that age, educational attainment, household income, place of residence, and having children ages 7 through 18 represent significant factors that determine women’s employment.