Results found: 2

Search results

Sort By:

Limit search:

FEMINISATION OF POVERTY AND THE BURDEN OF THE OLDER WOMAN: BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY IN PRE-RETIREMENT LIFE AND THE ACCUMULATED DISADVANTAGE FOR OLDER WOMEN IN ALBANIA

100%

Dhembo E.

Studia Humanistyczne AGH

2014

vol. 13

issue 4

The number one goal of the United Nations on the millennium development agenda is the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger. But poverty, as other problems, reveals more when examined from a multi-dimensional and dynamic perspective, and gender-sensitive lenses can make a major contribution. The “feminisation of poverty” (ranging from a higher incidence of women among the poor to poverty in terms of a lack of or limited choices) has been documented by research throughout the world as a result of the interaction of three main factors: the introduction of gender elements in the research and literature on poverty; the high incidence of specific groups of women under the poverty line; and the mismatch between women’s life cycles and policies in place. This paper provides additional evidence on the “feminisation of poverty” by looking at the case of Albania as representative of an under-researched category of countries emerging as new democracies in the 1990s. The argument put forward is that the intersectionality of gender and age results in a larger burden of poverty among older women. To support the argument, the paper goes beyond the limited official poverty statistics in Albania by looking at the economic activity of women and men, analysing the work-family reconciliation policy framework in Albania, and providing evidence of the work-family tension based on secondary data analysis. It is found that combining work and family life in the pre-retirement period in Albania presents more disadvantages for women than for men, leading to the “feminisation of poverty” in the post-retirement stages in life. This is then fuelling a new trend for unemployed women and retired women to work as informal caregivers, filling the deficiency in care for the eldest and youngest people in their own families or in the families of wealthier women. The policy logic and respective provisions in Albania, at best, are not discouraging the phenomenon.

“Why do I have to trust you?” The perspective from civil society on active citizenship in post–communist Albania

51%

Dhembo E., Duci V., Ajdini J.

Croatian International Relations Review

2015

vol. 21

issue 73

131-154

Civil society (CS) is the main medium in which active citizenship can flourish and have an impact on good governance and democracy. The communist past has played a major role in CS underdevelopment across Eastern European countries but research primarily targeting the elites has explained little of how citizenry has developed and mapped little of the cross-country variation. This paper attempts to increase understanding, looking at the case of Albania, where low levels of active citizenships are documented1, as the main indicator of this underdevelopment. Data from in-depth interviews with key informants explain that it results from a combination of historical factors with current determinants such as the low perceived level of impact, the transparency of CS actors and the political influence believed to often dictate their agendas. These and additional explorations of gender and age differences lead to suggested new strategies to boost active citizenship in the country.

Refine search results

1 Croatian International Relations Review

1 Studia Humanistyczne AGH

2 Dhembo E.

1 Ajdini J.

1 Duci V.

1 2015

1 2014

Search results

FEMINISATION OF POVERTY AND THE BURDEN OF THE OLDER WOMAN: BALANCING WORK AND FAMILY IN PRE-RETIREMENT LIFE AND THE ACCUMULATED DISADVANTAGE FOR OLDER WOMEN IN ALBANIA

“Why do I have to trust you?” The perspective from civil society on active citizenship in post–communist Albania