Gender Gap in Unpaid Care: Insights from Armenia

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YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) Manoogian Simone College of Business and Economics (CBE) is happy to share that two CBE faculty members have contributed to the Forum for Research on Gender Economics (FROGEE) Policy Brief: “Global Gender Gap in Unpaid Care: Why Domestic Work Still Remains a Woman’s Burden.” CBE Associate Professors Dr. Aleksandr Grigoryan and Dr. Knar Khachatryan explored the gender gap in unpaid domestic care in Armenia by providing new evidence in light of the COVID19 pandemic. The researchers used the Armenian Labor Force Survey (LFS) 2018 data and the data from November 2020 collected by the Paul Avedisian Center for Business Research and Development (CBRD) of AUA.

The study confirms the prevalence of gender inequalities in the provision of unpaid domestic care. In particular, the findings show that the existing gender gap has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. As claimed in the abstract: “Compared to men, women were more likely to separate from their jobs to provide unpaid domestic care. Moreover, among women the proportion of those who separated from a job specifically for the reason of providing unpaid domestic work was larger than among men. While universally recognized policies are important to mitigate gender imbalances in unpaid domestic care in Armenia, the current situation in the country requires an additional set of measures to be taken. In particular, policies should aim at preventing mass emigration from the country and supporting companies located in remote areas which are primarily gender-balanced, but particularly sensitive to lockdowns and other measures countering the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

FROGEE was initiated in 2019, by the Forum for Research on Eastern Europe and Emerging Economies (FREE Network), with the support of the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), to reveal issues of gender inequality in Central and Eastern Europe. 

Founded in 1991, the American University of Armenia (AUA) is a private, independent university located in Yerevan, Armenia, affiliated with the University of California, and accredited by the WASC Senior College and University Commission in the United States. AUA provides local and international students with Western-style education through top-quality undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs, promotes research and innovation, encourages civic engagement and community service, and fosters democratic values.