Wages paid to women in Bulgaria are 25-30 per cent lower than wages paid to men, Social Analysis Agency Chair Lili Dimova said during a discussion on Friday. In other European countries the difference is 15 per cent, BTA reports.

Discrimination against women is a frequent and visible phenomenon in terms of labour market accessibility. Women become victims of unemployment more often than men, and they have to make more effort to combine personal life with their career. That is why MEPs call on EU member states to enforce national measures to help women in entering the labour market with equal pay for equal jobs, and to encourage entrepreneurship among women.

The President of the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions in Bulgaria (CITUB), Zhelyazko Hristov, said women need to combine family life with their career. It is necessary to conduct a review of national and European policies, to implement legislative changes and to pursue a policy of gender equality, Hristov said.

A CITUB analysis shows that unemployment in Bulgaria is higher among women than among men, that the average pension of women is smaller due to a shortened career with lower contributory income, and that women earn far smaller incomes due to the difference in pay rates between women and men.

According to Hristov, some measures are still unpopular, such as shared parenthood, flexible employment contracts with mothers, and social services which allow women to devote time to work.