Keywords: Czech Republic; age diversity; age discrimination; gerontology; demography; social structure; care for elderly; fighting against discrimination;
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Keywords: Information and communication technology; ICT; Czech Republic; labour market; women; women in ICT; ICT labour market situation;
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Keywords: Czech Republic; child adoption; adoption legislation; gays; lesbians; bisexuals; adoption procedure; EU legislation; EU law on child adoption; European Convention on Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms;
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Keywords: Cyber space; gender; cyber violence; cyber crimes; discrimination; social informatics; violence; social networks; abuse in cyber space;
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Keywords: Youth; gender issues; young people's attitude; raising awareness; gender discrimination; men; women; social differentiation;
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Keywords: Workers; labour force; labour market; employees; employer; equal opportunities; men and women on the labour market; gender; equality;
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Keywords: Czech Republic; Czech companies; firms; workers; employees; labour market; human resources; equal opportunities; men; women; gender;
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Keywords: Labour market; labour force; human resources; people older than 45; discrimination; equal opportunities;
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Keywords: Workers; employees; human resources; socio-economic research; work-life balance; employers; labour relations; free time;
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Keywords: Media; representation in media; men in media; women in media; gender studies;
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Keywords: Norway; cyber space; cyber violence; cyber bullying; social informatics; social media; prevention of cyber bullying;
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Keywords: Legislation; legislative analysis; law; cyber space; cyber violence; cyber bullying; social informatics; social media; prevention of cyber bullying;
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Keywords: Legislation; legislative analysis; law; cyber space; cyber violence; cyber bullying; social informatics; social media; prevention of cyber bullying;
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Keywords: Age diversity; age discrimination; Czech Republic; demography; employed population; pensioners; employment rate; 45-65 years old population; population older than 65; ageism;
In the Czech Republic, 45 - 65 years old people comprise over a quarter of the entire population and their employment plays a key role in the country’s economy. The data presented here is based on the official national statistics, which are typically classified by age. Unfortunately, the age categories are not consistent across all types of data. In comparison to the EU, the employment intensity in the Czech Republic is slightly higher than average. The employment rate of the working age cohort 15 - 64 years was 65.2 % (as of 2009). The employment rate of 20-64 years old was 70.7% (while the average rate in the EU was 68.8 %). [...]
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Keywords: Czech Republic; Czech labor market; career; family; equal opportunities; early childcare; parents and their employer; human resources managers; part-time work; flexible work-time;
Dear reader, The following pages provide the results of various studies concerning the position of women and men in the Czech labour market. The analyses were carried out as a part of the EU Equal project “Fifty - fifty: Equal Opportunities for Women and Men” coordinated by Gender Studies, o.p.s, and co-financed by the EU European Social Fund and the Czech Republic state budget. Each study focuses on a topic that had received very modest coverage in earlier research or had not been explored at all. The first paper is a summary of qualitative and quantitative studies carried out by the Research Institute for Labour and Social Affairs team headed by Věra Kuchařová. The team’s objective was to find out the possibilities parents have in juggling childcare and work responsibilities and the potential constraints or sources of discrimination that can make the parents’ situation difficult. They looked at the issue from both the mothers’ perspective and that of the employers. The main focus was on finding out to what extent the parents draw their sick child leave and claim their maternity/parental leave entitlement, which are the basic measures enabling parents to balance their personal and professional lives. One of the main findings is the fact that the facilities allowing people to balance their personal and professional lives are used much less in the Czech Republic than in the vast majority of western countries. In the Czech Republic, the range of the flexible work arrangement possibilities used is narrower and can usually be summed up in three options: reduced working hours, part-time work and flexible working hours. However, they are usually not offered systematically, they do not fall within internal company guidelines and are used solely on an individual agreement basis. In the Czech Republic, it is still mostly women who take parental leave to provide care for children and ensure other forms of full-time childcare. It is rather exceptional to see a father on parental leave, with men representing about 1% of all persons drawing the parental benefit. The reason can be financial (as men have statistically higher salaries), but it can also lie in the unsupportive attitude on the part of the employers who expect that the working hours arrangement facilities should be primarily used by women. [...]
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Keywords: Family policy; parental and maternity leave; work-life balance; equal opportunities; family support; types of partnership; children; parenting support; stimulating birth rate; governance; welfare;
Family policy in the context of parenting and equal opportunities is a system of provisions, programs and policies sharing the common goal of supporting families and other types of partnerships. They are financial, material and legislative instruments that influence people’s decisions about family and having children. The foundation of family policy is the form of maternity and parental leave, possibly including the provision of father leave . The goal of family policy in regard to parenting should be the creation of a family-friendly environment in which people can freely decide whether they want to have children and how many. In such an environment people need not worry about their and their children’s socioeconomic situation and about their future, and can therefore freely decide to have as many children as they really wish. In the long term, this approach to parenting support is more effective than temporary pro-population measures which typically aim to stimulate the birth rate of some age groups but do not create stable conditions for parenting in the long run. Creating and fostering a positive environment is also more useful than implementing policy approaches based on penalizing one-child or childless families as some family policy or retirement concepts propose. Family policy that observes equal opportunities principles and promotes work-life balance, allows for a variety of life strategies both for those who decide to balance work and family as well as for those who prefer to look after their families full-time. Neither social group should be neglected or discriminated against – be it by the system of maternal and parental leave or by an associated policy (the retirement system, for instance), as it happens today. A good system of maternity and parental care is grounded in anti-discrimination principles which actively prevent discrimination of parents and other caregivers and promote equal opportunities. Ideally, a family policy that provides equal opportunities does not support only the types of idealized family units that are in accord with the party lines of the governing political party. On the contrary, a fair family policy understands families are dynamic entities that take many of well-functioning and responsible forms. [...]
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Keywords: Maternity leave; parental leave; parental time; raising children; life-work balance; alternative work arrangement; pre-school childcare; professional and personal life; parenthood; Czech Republic;
How to harmonise family and work? How to build a career without losing the chance of a family? In the Czech Republic this dilemma is more poignant than in other EU countries. Its model, where a woman’ s right to a long maternity leave is not supplemented by her right to preschool childcare or to an alternative work arrangement, is outdated in the European context. The lack of preschool facilities prevents thousands of women from returning to work and fathers from participating more in care. Seven Czech mothers with long-term experience from other EU countries, namely Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Germany, Norway and Sweden, shared stories about their encounters with different types of preschool facilities, with returning back to work and with various patterns of maternity and parental leave, which in those countries is not considered vacation, rather a time designated to both parents. For most women in the Czech Republic becoming a mother means entering a vicious circle. The time a Czech woman spends at home with her child is the longest of all countries in Europe. And it is unique even worldwide. Statistics show that most Czech mothers of one child stay at home for three years, which has a very deep impact on both their professional and personal lives (let alone the alternative where two children in a row keep the woman at home for up to eight years). [...]
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Keywords: Elementary schools; school projects; methodology; cookbook; career; career counselling projects; equal opportunities; boys; girls; traditional division of jobs; educational programmes;
Dear readers, we are presenting you with a methodology “cookbook“ which you can use to organize career counselling projects which promote equal opportunities for girls and boys. The goal of this publication is to broaden the range of jobs and education programmes girls and boys consider as their potential career options. We hope to liberate the imagination of young people from the constraints of the traditional division of jobs into jobs for men and jobs for women. The idea that everybody deserves opportunities to put their unique talents to use and to dream freely and without regard to stereotypes about men’s and women’s social roles is fundamental to this book. Studies on decision-making among Czech students show that rather than evaluating their skills and abilities, girls and boys tend to use gender stereotypes to help them choose their future careers (see Jarkovská et al. 2010, Smetáčková 2006, 2007). To reverse this trend, a two-pronged strategy is needed; we have to strengthen career guidance as well as build awareness about the power of gender stereotypes. Better career choices will not only improve the opportunities of girls and boys for self-realization; well considered career choices will also bring employers truly competent workers. With this publication we hope to promote critical thinking and to help people understand how gender stereotypes affect us. Stereotypes can play a positive role in the society – they organize the world for easier orientation. However, we should use them consciously so that we can actually decide whether we want to act according to their dictate or not. We see education as a process of broadening our horizons and learning about the important questions we face in today’s world (such as the issue of the position of men and women in today’s Europe). At the same time, education should always provide space for students to discover their own ways. To meet this goal, our book includes activities to help students reflect on gender stereotypes and to defend their own perspectives. In other words, we seek to facilitate equality between women and men. Our book corresponds with current government strategies and ministerial policy documents (Government Priorities and Procedures to Promote Equality between Women and Men, Ministry of Education Priorities and Procedures to Promote Equal Opportunities for Men and Women). The materials in this book are aimed at elementary school teachers although they can also be used at secondary schools, children’s clubs and other educational institutions for children and youth. Activity descriptions are supplemented by arguments clarifying the fundamental connections between work, career and gender stereotypes. Most of the activities have been field-tested in seminars with real students and have been adjusted for teachers with different backgrounds so that they could use the activities regardless of knowledge of gender studies. We hope that our ideas will help to make your school projects more encouraging for students to see their careers free of gender stereotypes, useful and inspiring. We are interested in hearing from you!
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Keywords: Women; labour market; gender studies; gender mainstream; inequality; equal opportunities; gender stereotypes; motherhood; childcare; maternity leave; career break; developing career; female scientists; workplace; discrimination; women’s human rights;
Dear readers, We are pleased to bring to your attention Women on labour market: today and in the future, a book, which is one of the outcomes of the project Fit for Gender Mainstreaming - Gender-Sensitive Transcending of Borders between East and West. Based on cross-border qualification initiatives for multipliers and public events in all countries participating in the “East-West Dialogue”, the goal of the project is to advance gender mainstreaming strategies on a local level and enhance exchange of experiences and qualifications. The publication follows up the international conference Future of Women on the Labour Market, which took place under the auspices of Kateřina Jacques, a Member of Parliament, in Prague in October 2007. Our goal is to assess situation of women on the labour market, refer to persisting inequalities and inspire discussion about the future. We are aware of the fact that gender equality policies need a thorough evaluation to prevent biased application, which may lead to cementing gender stereotypes instead of disrupting them. Our texts address not only decision-makers, but they also represent a call for solidarity between women, since its lack often stands for a barrier in achieving equality. Thus, we decided to focus some of our current activities especially on women.
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Keywords: Labour market; human resources; employees; career; family; equal opportunities; gender; men; women;
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