Better jobs and incomes in Bulgaria
The shrinking number of workers due to smaller young cohorts entering the labour market
and large-scale outward migration are undermining Bulgaria’s growth prospects, the
sustainability of its social institutions and society more widely. Bulgaria needs
to provide more support for families and make staying in the country more attractive
by raising productivity, fostering the creation of more good-quality formal jobs and
reinforcing the social safety net. Bulgarian women have high activity rates, a high
share in management jobs and a low wage gap with men, but all this translates into
high opportunity costs for educated women of having children. Policies, including
access to affordable quality childcare countrywide, more egalitarian burden sharing
with men and greater incentives to get back to work, would help reduce those costs.
Women from disadvantaged backgrounds should be offered a career path through upgrading
skills and lifelong learning. Inactivity rates among the working age population should
be addressed by reforms to the social welfare system that would improve activation
and through targeted measures. Vulnerable groups, including ethnic minorities, are
disadvantaged in multiple ways and need tailored measures to escape poverty, acquire
skills and integrate into the labour market.
Published on May 26, 2023
In series:OECD Economics Department Working Papersview more titles