Thus, the extent to which women are pushed out of a tense labour market is not only influenced by the availability of jobs, but also by cultural values, and the gender division of labour, or, more broadly, gender relations in society. The interrelation of these factors is highly culture-specific, depending on intervening forces, such as the influence of the church, and varies strongly not only between countries, but even between regions and cultural groups within the same country. These interactions are difficult to assess, however, because labour markets are severely distressed, and unemployment and underemployment are very high in most countries of the region. Decent employment, reasonable income Throughout the region, unemployment is more often a problem for women than for men, with higher unemployment rates - in many cases consistently higher. Moreover, unemployed women are generally exposed to a greater risk of remaining unemployed for a longer time.
Women are also very much affected by hidden unemployment and by work in the informal sector.
Both are growing problems in the countries of the region, but gender-specific data and analysis are still lacking. As is also true in Western Europe, women are considerably less likely than men to be self-employed or to be employers, for reasons which are not always clear. The gender segregation of employment inherited from communist times has generally been retained, and often reinforced, during transition. Women work overwhelmingly in certain fields such as textiles, office work, health and education, the public sector and services in general, and in low-paid positions of little authority. Women are very often paid less for equal work and work of equal value, but job evaluations would have to take place to grasp the extent of the problem and rectify such a bias.