Regional features of women’s employment in the informal sector of the Russian economy

The relevance of the study is due to the growing scale of women’s participation in informal employment in Russia, which contradicts the goals of state policy to ensure gender equality and improve the quality of working life. The aim of the study is to identify regional characteristics of women’s employment in the informal sector of the Russian economy and to analyze the factors that determine its differentiation depending on the level of socio-economic development and the type of regional economy. The empirical base comprises microdata from the Labor Force Survey and the Comprehensive Survey of Living Conditions carried out by Rosstat. Six regions of Russia, differing in their level of economic development and sectoral structure, were selected for comparative analysis. The study used the methods of descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and a gender-sensitive approach to labor market analysis. The results obtained reveal significant regional differences in the scale and structure of female employment in the informal sector. An inverse relationship between the level of socio-economic development of the region and the scale of informal employment of women is confirmed. It is shown that women in the informal sector more often face insufficient social protection and employment instability, despite a high level of education. Regional differences are also significantly influenced by sociocultural factors. Informal employment is both a survival strategy and a source of flexibility for vulnerable categories of women. The need to develop regionally differentiated and gender-sensitive measures aimed at formalizing women’s employment and improving the quality of working life is identified.

informal employment, informal sector, women, quality of working life, gender equality, regional characteristics