The Gender Gap Report Issue 5: When jobs are scarce, who deserves them more?

In Southeast Europe, economic scarcity raises a pressing question: when jobs are limited, who deserves them most? The Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung’s 2024 Southeast Europe Youth Study finds that most young people reject male job priority, yet young men are consistently more likely than young women to support it. Across the twelve countries surveyed, 16.4% of young men and 9.5% of young women agree that men should get priority when work is scarce, revealing a persistent gender gap that grows with age and career ambition.

National differences are striking. Montenegro and Slovenia have the largest gender gaps, with 16.3% of men versus 3.8% of women in Montenegro, and 16.0% versus 4.2% in Slovenia, supporting male job priority. Albania shows higher overall support—22.6% of men and 11.5% of women—but Turkey displays near convergence at high levels (23.7% of men, 22.5% of women). Greece, Serbia, and Bosnia and Herzegovina fall between these extremes, with smaller gaps but varying levels of agreement.

Age plays a decisive role. Among 14–18-year-olds, support is modest (12.1% of men, 10.4% of women), but the gap widens in young adulthood: 19–24-year-olds show 17.4% versus 8.5%, and 25–29-year-olds 18.8% versus 9.4%. This suggests that labor market entry and real competition for jobs reinforce traditional views, particularly among men.

Career ambition creates a pronounced paradox. Young men who rate career as important are more likely to support male job priority (17.6%), while ambitious young women are less likely to do so (8.9%). Those less focused on career show more moderate views. This divergence shows how the same aspirations can produce opposite attitudes depending on whether traditional hierarchies benefit or disadvantage the respondent.

Economic circumstances and family plans add nuance but do not erase the gender gap. Employed men support male job priority slightly more than unemployed men (19.0% vs. 14.7%), while women’s support remains lower and stable. Youth from struggling households show higher support overall, but the gender difference persists. Family planning intentions show suggestive patterns, with women’s support rising modestly with intended family size, yet the gap endures across all categories.

This fifth installment of the Gender Gap Report, authored by Semir Dzebo, draws on the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung's Southeast Europe Youth Study 2024, surveying 8,943 young people aged 14–29 across Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Greece, and Türkiye. It highlights how gender shapes perceptions of who deserves economic opportunity, showing persistent gaps between young men and women in their support for male job priority—even as most reject it. The findings underscore that age, career ambition, and national context influence these attitudes, pointing to critical moments in youth labor market entry where traditional hierarchies can become reinforced.