Infographic: How is childcare keeping women out of workforce in North Macedonia?

Author(s)/editor(s)

Svetlana Papachek, Aleksandra Todevska, Joana Treneska, Jasmina Trajcheva, Era Sulejmani. Mentorship: Altynai Mambetova, School of Data; Nurai Mamytova, Ala Negruta, UN Women ECA RO.

The infographic sheds light on the impact of childcare responsibilities on women’s labour force participation in North Macedonia based on a detailed analysis and visualization of data from official statistics and publicly available research.

The analysis reveals that only 1 in 5 children aged 0-3 attends kindergarten, and just 1 in 3 children aged 4-6 are enrolled in preschool, leading to 46% of women being economically inactive. It further uncovers that 27% of unemployed women are not seeking employment due to childcare responsibilities. The infographic presents solutions such as investing in daycare, involving fathers, promoting flexible work arrangements, and introducing paid parental leave to support working mothers and foster a family-friendly economy.

This infographic was created by a team of civil society activists and researchers attending the Gender Data Bootcamp in Izmir, Türkiye, a collaborative effort between the School of Data, UN Women's "Gender Equality Facility" project in North Macedonia and the "Making Every Woman and Girl Count" regional programme for Europe and Central Asia.

The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of UN Women, the United Nations or any of its affiliated organizations.