Croatia’s Labor Market Needs Women: A Roadmap for Equal Opportunity and Inclusion

The World Bank’s report highlights persistent gender disparities in Croatia’s labor market, driven by cultural norms, limited childcare, and inflexible work conditions. It calls for comprehensive reforms to boost women’s economic participation and close employment gaps.

The World Bank, together with the Institute of Economics, Zagreb, and the Croatian Employment Services (CES), offers a deeply researched and data-rich assessment of gender inequality in Croatia’s labor market. Compiled by a team of economists and consultants, including Britta Laurine Rude, Iva Tomic, Andrea Sitarova, Marina Tkalec, and Lea Karla Matić, the report draws on international best practices, national statistics, and policy analysis to illuminate persistent barriers to women’s full participation in the workforce. Although Croatia has made commendable progress in narrowing some gender gaps, many women remain economically sidelined, particularly the young, the elderly, and those living in rural or underserved regions. With the country facing an aging population and growing labor shortages, mobilizing the untapped potential of Croatian women is not just a question of fairness; it’s an economic necessity.

Employment Gaps, Low Pay, and Limited Security

The report reveals that while female labor force participation in Croatia has increased steadily over the last decade, key disparities remain. Young women aged 15 to 24 are particularly affected, with only 19.4 percent employed in 2023, compared to 33 percent across the EU. Older women also fare worse than their European counterparts, with an employment rate of just 47.5 percent compared to the EU average of 58 percent. Prime-age women (25–49) show more promising figures, with participation rates slightly above the EU average, but still trailing behind Croatian men.

Even when women are employed, they are more likely to occupy part-time or insecure jobs. The gender pay gap stands at 7.4 percent lower than the EU average of 12 percent, but remains larger in the private sector and among lower-skilled roles. These income disparities ripple into long-term consequences: women accumulate smaller pensions and are more likely to face poverty in old age. In part, this stems from their overrepresentation in lower-paying sectors like education and healthcare, where flexible or remote work options are scarce. Croatian women are still significantly underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, which limits access to the most lucrative and future-oriented career paths.

The Weight of Traditional Gender Norms

Cultural expectations remain a critical roadblock. In Croatia, more than 60 percent of people still believe a woman’s primary role is to care for her family far above the EU average of 44 percent. These entrenched views drive a clear motherhood penalty: women with children are less likely to be employed, particularly if they come from marginalized communities, have lower education, or live in rural areas. Although Croatia offers generous parental leave, uptake among men remains negligible. In 2023, just 3.6 percent of Croatian fathers took parental leave, reinforcing the notion that caregiving is primarily women’s work.

This imbalance leads to long interruptions in women’s careers. Nearly half of working mothers report stepping away from the workforce for more than a year due to caregiving responsibilities, compared to just over one percent of men. Even where legal protections exist, workplace culture and employer attitudes often discourage men from taking leave, further entrenching inequality.

Childcare Challenges and a Patchy Support System

Access to affordable, high-quality childcare is one of the most significant factors affecting women’s labor market participation. Despite substantial government investment of over €500 million since 2012, ECEC coverage remains uneven. Nearly 20 percent of children aged three to six are not enrolled in preschool, with particularly low access in the Pannonian region and other rural areas. Where childcare is available, operating hours often fail to align with full-time employment, and fees can be a major barrier, especially in municipalities where costs are not adjusted based on family income.

These challenges are compounded for parents with school-aged children. Many Croatian children spend fewer than 30 hours per week in formal education or care, far below the requirements of full-time working parents. While the Whole-Day School pilot project aims to address this, full implementation remains several years away. Without more flexible, affordable, and universally accessible childcare options, many women simply cannot return to work after having children.

A Call for Comprehensive Action

The report makes it clear that piecemeal solutions will not be enough. Instead, it outlines six actionable, evidence-based recommendations for policymakers. These include transforming gender norms through communication campaigns and education, improving childcare coverage and operating hours, expanding flexible and remote work arrangements, supporting women’s entrepreneurship with targeted financial and training programs, investing in eldercare infrastructure, and adapting tax and benefit systems to reduce the “inactivity trap” that discourages low-income women from working.

Promising initiatives like the Zazeli program, which employs vulnerable women in eldercare roles, illustrate the impact that targeted support can have. But long-term success will require sustained public investment and the engagement of employers, communities, and families. The government has already laid the groundwork with policies like the National Plan for Gender Equality and the Demographic Revitalization Strategy, yet many interventions remain limited in scope or fragmented across regions.

If Croatia is to close its gender gaps and build a resilient, inclusive economy, it must commit to a bold, coordinated, and inclusive agenda for change. As the report concludes, unlocking the full economic potential of Croatian women is not only a matter of social justice, it’s a strategic imperative for the nation’s future.