The status of\nwomen in society, employment and business is a timeless topic. The countries of\nthe European Union have been dealing with women – their position in the labour\nmarket and in society – for a long time, and one of the first documents\nentitled \u201dAgreement on equal pay for men and women for equal work\u201d was signed\nin 1951. Other common documents adopted at EU level concern equal rights for\nwomen and men, the position of women in the labour market, pay and\nnon-discrimination. Slovakia has gender equality enshrined in the Constitution\nof the Slovak Republic and equality between men and women is also dealt with,\nfor example, in the Anti-Discrimination Act or the Labour Code.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Women are now a\nnatural part of the labour market. This can also be seen in women’s economic\nactivity, which is rising in all EU countries, albeit at a slower rate than\nmen’s. The highest percentage of economically active women is in the Nordic\ncountries of Europe, while the lowest percentage of economically active women\nis in Central Europe, the Balkans, Malta and Italy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite a number\nof measures, guidelines and regulations, there is a long-standing gender pay\ngap that is closing only very slowly. In all EU countries, women are paid less\nthan men. And while there are a number of theories to explain the gender pay\ngap, closing the pay gap is a long-term process. In some EU countries (e.g.\nGermany, UK, Czech Republic), lower female unemployment rates are associated with\nhigher rates of pay inequality. However, this relationship cannot be\ngeneralised. Romania, for example, has both the lowest female unemployment rate\nand the lowest pay inequality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Slovakia,\ndespite year-on-year fluctuations, women’s economic activity is on the rise.\nWomen in Slovakia are interested not only in employment but also in\nentrepreneurship. This trend is also reflected in the growing number of female\nentrepreneurs – natural persons. Based on statistical data, it can be stated\nthat in Slovakia, women aged 40\u201349 are the most frequent entrepreneurs, and\nwomen aged 70 and over are the least frequent entrepreneurs. Depending on the\nlegal form, female entrepreneurs most often operate as one-person limited\ncompanies or female sole traders. The most common business activities of women\nare health care, social work, administrative services and education. Female\nentrepreneurs account for around 30% of all entrepreneurs in Slovakia and this\nshare is slightly lower compared to the EU average. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the basis of\na questionnaire survey conducted by the SBA, the basic characteristics of\nfemale entrepreneurs operating in the Slovak Republic were identified. Female\nentrepreneurs in Slovakia are aged 30\u201339, live in the city and have attained a\nuniversity degree. They are married and have 2\u20133 children. They operate mainly\nas natural persons in the field of other services. They have been on the market\nfor 1\u20135 years and are mostly self-employed, with no employees. According to the\nnumber of employees and the annual turnover, which is less than EUR 50,000,\nthey belong to the group of small and medium-sized enterprises. Starting a\nbusiness for female entrepreneurs is mainly related to the need for\nself-fulfilment and to negative experience gained from employment (frustration\nwith previous work, or not finding a suitable job). In the early days of their\nbusiness, they were mainly assisted by a spouse\/partner, or they started\nwithout advice or help. The female entrepreneurs run their business primarily\nin their own premises and sell the resulting products via the internet. They\noffer their products all over the country, and their reasons for doing business\nin their chosen sector\/area were primarily that they saw an opportunity to make\na name for themselves in the market, but also that they have been inclined\ntowards what they are doing in business since they were very young. Although in\nmost cases the subject of the business is related to the field of study, the\nfemale entrepreneurs admitted that they changed the subject of the business\nduring performing their business activity. The fact that female entrepreneurs\nare interested in learning and development was also reflected in the fact that\nthey had taken some course(s) before or during their entrepreneurship.\nNowadays, they are primarily motivated in business by the possibility of\nself-fulfilment, independence and autonomous decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In line with the\nconclusions of the meeting and the roundtable discussion, the Slovak female\nentrepreneur can be further characterised by additional features. These\ninclude, for example, the fact that entrepreneurship helps women synchronise\nfamily, profession and self-fulfilment. Entrepreneurship has enabled women to\nbe active and has become a way of life for them, an important complement to\ntheir sense of life. Women in business, according to the female entrepreneurs\nthemselves, do not lose their feminine identity in business and at the same\ntime mentoring, sharing ideas, thoughts and experience is important for them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Female\nentrepreneurs in Slovakia are ambitious and optimistic women, young in spirit,\nwho know what they want and are not afraid to implement their plans, even if it\nis not always easy. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The status of women in society, employment and business is a timeless topic. The countries of the European Union have been dealing with women – their position in the labour market and in society – for a long time, and one of the first documents entitled \u201dAgreement on equal pay for men and women for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4445,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","cybocfi_hide_featured_image":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-5837","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-news"},"yoast_head":"\n