The role of women in the Ukrainian economy continues to grow. Last year, women founded 56% of enterprises in Ukraine and this year – 59%. At the same time, the share of women winners of the Vlasna Sprava grant programme in 2024 increased from 57% to 61%. These figures were announced by Yuliia Svyrydenko, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy of Ukraine, in her speech at the 8th Ukrainian Women’s Congress.
“Today, we are witnessing the changing role of women in the Ukrainian economy. We see a trend that more and more women and girls are starting their own businesses and learning new professions where men used to be statistically predominant. Today, the capacity of women and businesses run by women is an important component of our economic sustainability,” said Yuliia Svyrydenko.
According to her, the State Statistics Service of Ukraine reported that in 2021 the gender pay gap in Ukraine was 18.6%. Analyses show that women have to work an average of 6.5 years longer in their lives to earn the same amount as men. Therefore, one of the Government’s goals is to reduce the gender gap to 13.6% by 2030. This is the average for EU countries.
To achieve these goals, the Government is working in several key areas:
– Developing systemic changes to legislation so that women have more opportunities to fulfill themselves;
– Providing new business opportunities;
– Providing training to help women find more employment opportunities;
– Implementing the national campaign to overcome gender stereotypes “Of Course You Can!”. The information campaign “Of Course You Can!” is implemented by UN Women in partnership with the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine and the Office of the First Lady with financial support from the Government of Sweden.
“Unfortunately, Ukraine still lives under the Labour Code of 1971, which contains discriminatory norms. For example, women with children under three cannot travel on business trips, and there is no possibility to work remotely or from home officially. In the new Labour Code, we have removed all these outdated rules,” continued Yuliia Svyrydenko.
Following the introduction of the amendments to the labour law, there will be 8 types of employment contracts, including those that will allow for home-based and remote work. Parents of both sexes will also be able to take advantage of parental leave for children under three years of age. The Government will enshrine the principle of equal pay and develop a clear methodology for determining what constitutes work of equal value.
The First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy reminded that the Government was implementing a number of grant projects, both state and partner. They range from UAH 150,000 for young people to UAH 8 million for the creation or development of production facilities. The state also provides grants for veterans, women veterans and their spouses, up to UAH 1 million.
Women’s participation in the Vlasna Sprava grant programme has increased: 48% of applications in 2024 were received from women. Last year, this figure was 43%. They are also more likely to receive re-grants under the Vlasna Sprava programme – currently, this figure is 61%, while last year it was 57%.
Another important step aimed at creating equal gender opportunities in the labour market is retraining women to obtain the professions that the labour market currently needs. To this end, the Government is carrying out a large-scale reform of vocational education centres. This will allow businesses to actively join the supervisory boards of vocational education centres and influence the specialities and methods of training. This is to ensure that course participants have the knowledge and skills that meet the demand in the labour market.
In addition, vouchers from the State Employment Service are available. This is essentially UAH 30,000 that can be used to study at the institution and in the speciality of one’s choice. To date, 18,000 such vouchers have been issued. And 71% of their recipients are women. (Government portal)