Gender equality

In 2022, Bulgaria placed 18th on the index of the European Institute for Gender Equality, which ranks EU states’ progress on gender equality in various sectors. Bulgaria’s overall score of 60.7 out of 100 was  7.9 points below the European Union average. Of most concern, Bulgaria is the worst performing state with regards to financial equality between the genders, which considers gender gaps in earnings and poverty.[1] This is confirmed by data from the Bulgarian Confederation of Independent Trade Unions, which found that Bulgarian women are more affected by inflation than men, as they earn significantly lower wages on average. The gender pay gap for the economy as a whole stands at 15.5%. Even in sectors with higher female employment, such as education, the gender pay gap is substantial. One consequence of this gender pay gap is a large gender pension gap of around 20%, which has resulted in 51% of female pensioners being at risk of poverty and social exclusion, compared to 37% of male pensioners.[2] The NSG reports that this lack of female economic power is directly tied to women’s lack of political power. In the five elections held in Bulgaria between 2021 and 2022, women only represented between 34% and 24% of candidates on electoral lists. More concerningly, women headed only 20% of the lists, meaning that many female candidates were placed in positions from which they were very unlikely to be elected, further weakening female representation.[3]

In Bulgaria, gender policy at a state level is currently determined by the National Strategy for Promoting Equality between Men and Women 2021-2030, which was adopted by the Bulgarian government in 2020. However, the NSG noted that the new strategy does not differ substantially from the previous one. Furthermore, the targets in the current strategy are the same as those in the previous version, indicating a total lack of progress. This is compounded by the lack of any analysis of the effectiveness of the previous strategy. Finally, there is no mention of the politicised backlash against gender equality, notably the rejection of the ratification of the Istanbul Convention on Preventing and Combating Violence Against Women and Domestic Violence and the rapid spread of disinformation over gender equality. Actors charged with ensuring gender equality are underequipped or unwilling to deal with the issue, according to the NSG. Although the Ministry of Labour and Social Policy has been designated as the ministry responsible for implementing state policy on gender equality, the NSG reports that its actions have been limited to a yearly prize awarded to organisations active in promoting gender equality. Other actors, such as the Commission for Protection from Discrimination and the Ombudsperson, have been involved in protecting against discrimination on the margins. However, there is no institution dealing permanently with gender equality in Bulgaria.[4]

Youth unemployment

Youth unemployment in Bulgaria stood at 12.23% in 2022, a 3.6-percentage point decrease from 2021.[5] The NSG noted that, although labour market participation rates have recovered amongst young people since the pandemic, they are still below the European Union average, especially for young people with low education or disabilities and those from rural areas or the Roma minority. Higher youth unemployment generally stems from a variety of factors, such as a lack of work experience and professional contacts, underdeveloped skills and a higher risk of being employed informally or precariously.[6] The European Commission highlights the structural issue of poor educational attainment in Bulgaria: The OECD’s Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows that underachievement in basic skills is twice as high in Bulgaria as the EU average.[7] This results in a mismatch between the skills demanded by employers and those attained by young people in Bulgaria, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds. A consequence of the unemployment is a significant and systematic brain drain, which has continued for many decades. The NSG drew attention to the paradoxical situation in which Bulgaria is unable to retain its highly educated young people, while demand for these highly skilled workers rises. They also noted that a set of new skills, concentrated in technology and ICT, is required, but that these are hard to acquire in Bulgaria.

Inclusion of migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and vulnerable groups

Around 319,000 Ukrainian refugees arrived in Bulgaria during the reporting period, of which around 114,000 were granted temporary protection, including around 40,000 children. Bulgarian authorities were quick to enact procedures to allow the rapid integration of Ukrainian children into Bulgarian kindergartens and schools. These include using the evaluation of previously attained education to find a suitable place. Once enrolled, Ukrainian children are given additional training in Bulgarian as a foreign language as well as psychological support if necessary. Additional resources have been made available for children with special educational needs.

Measures have also been put in place to speedily integrate Ukrainians into the labour market. The conferral of refugee status or international protection provides for the immediate right to work in Bulgaria. Moreover, Bulgaria validates Ukrainians’ previously attained qualifications, as well as their informal and non-formal learning. Additional programmes, such as the Employment and Training of Refugees programme, provide refugees with Bulgarian language training and reimburse the social security contributions of employers that hire refugees. Thanks to these measures, 70% of Ukrainian refugees are ready to start work immediately, according to a survey carried out by Bulgarian authorities. And Bulgarian businesses have hired many Ukrainians, mostly in the field of information technology, engineering and tourism. However, the NSG noted that Bulgaria’s openness to Ukrainian refugees stands in sharp contrast to the country’s attitude towards refugees from the Middle East and Africa. Whereas Ukrainian refugees were initially housed in seaside resorts, other asylum seekers were placed in migrant camps with no right to free movement. Ukrainians received immediate access to healthcare and education, while Syrians, Afghans, Iraqis and others did not. As Bulgaria is generally a transit country – and not a final destination – for non-Ukrainian refugees and asylum seekers, the Bulgarian government has not felt the need for measures to support their integration into Bulgarian society.[8]

[1] European Institute for Gender Equality (2023), Gender Equality Index 2022 – Bulgaria: https://eige.europa.eu/gender-equality-index/2022/country/BG

[2]  BTA (2023), Women in Bulgaria More Affected by Inflation than Men due to Pay Gap - Trade Union: https://www.bta.bg/en/news/economy/419403-women-in-bulgaria-more-affected-by-inflation-than-men-due-to-pay-gap-trade-uni

[3] Ekaterina Karavelova Foundation (2023), Gender equality in politics - Challenges and opportunities in Bulgarian context: https://ekfwomen.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/gender_equality_in_politics_web_eng.pdf

[4] European Commission (2022), Country report - Gender equality, Bulgaria: https://www.equalitylaw.eu/downloads/5662-bulgaria-country-report-gender-equality-2022-1-56-mb

[5]  Statista (2023), Bulgaria – youth unemployment: https://www.statista.com/statistics/811729/youth-unemployment-rate-in-bulgaria/

[6] Albena Vutsova and Martina Arabadzhieva (2022), Three Eastern Cases of Youth Unemployment Trends – Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia: https://ideas.repec.org/a/bas/econst/y2022i3p94-110.html

[7] European Commission (2023), 2023 Country Report – Bulgaria: https://economy-finance.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2023-05/BG_SWD_2023_602_en.pdf

[8] European Council on Refugees and Exiles (2023), Country Report – Bulgaria: https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/bulgaria/

Research by Eurofound shows that 13% of Bulgarians struggle to balance work with their personal lives. Working men are twice as likely as working women to experience this problem. Of all employed Bulgarians, 43.5% believe that the reconciliation of work and personal life requires additional effort and stress on the part of the worker. Most concerningly, one in three Bulgarian employees work more than 45 hours a week, and half work at least two Saturdays a month. Moreover, women appear to suffer more than men from the lack of a work-life balance.[1] While the number of women working over 48 hours a week is close to that of men, and while many households have dual incomes, Bulgarian women perform more unpaid household and care tasks than men, disrupting their work-life balance.[2]

The Work-Life Balance Directive and the Transparent and Predictable Working Conditions Directive were transposed into Bulgarian law in 2022. Among other measures, these clarified the definition of working time for on-duty and on-call work, introduced paid parental leave for fathers and required employers to provide clear work schedules and sufficient notice of shifts. Working parents of children under eight years old and other workers with care responsibilities were given greater rights to telework to enable them to balance care and work responsibilities. However, these rights can be denied by an employer through a motivated statement. Finally, paid leave rights have been extended to young people in their first jobs: They now only have to work for one month before being able to take paid leave, down from the previous period of eight months[3] However, a new obligation for employers to monitor and report leave to the social security system is hampered by the lack of a digitised, unified reporting system. The NSG also reported that the use of remote and flexible working became more common in Bulgaria after the pandemic, improving the ability of eligible workers to balance their work and personal lives. No other changes in labour regulations or the composition of social dialogue took place during the period, largely due[4]the lack of a stable government.[5]

[1] Passport to Trade 2.0 (2023), Work-Life Balance – Bulgaria: https://businessculture.org/eastern-europe/bulgaria/work-life-balance/

[2] Manager.bg (2023), The new definition of work-life balance: https://manager.bg/job-%D0%BC%D0%B5%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B6%D1%8A%D1%80/noviat-balans-mezdu-profesionalen-i-lichen-zivot-v-promenenia-svat

[3] EY (2022), Additional changes in Bulgarian labour law concerning active and inactive on-call working time and vacations: https://www.ey.com/en_bg/law/additional-changes-in-bulgarian-labour-law-concerning-active-and

[5] Eurofound (2023), Living and Working in Bulgaria: https://www.eurofound.europa.eu/en/country/bulgaria

Access to healthcare

The NSG reported that the biggest hinderance to Bulgarian’s effective right to healthcare is the persistence of high out-of-pocket payments for health services. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), these payments represented 39% of health spending in 2019, far above the European Union average of 21%. More-recent data from the WHO Europe office revealed that one in five Bulgarian households incurred out-of-pocket payments that exceeded their capacity to pay by at least 40%. Such catastrophic health spending can lead to a household not being able to afford necessities such as food, energy and housing. It is most likely to affect older people, people living in rural areas, and people with low incomes. Over 15% of the population does not have any form of health insurance, and the state only pays contributions for those in extreme poverty. That means many low-income people must pay insurance contributions despite not being able to afford them. Despite having the highest ratio of hospitals to people in the EU, Bulgarians are generally dissatisfied with healthcare provision in their country: 37% of those surveyed were satisfied and 47% not. The cost of medicines and medical examinations is the biggest factor in this dissatisfaction. One in five Bulgarians report having stopped taking prescribed medicines due to the cost, and more than one in four (27%) forwent a visit to a specialised doctor for the same reason. The NSG also noted that access to healthcare is generally faster than the European average, with shorter waiting times, so long as a person can afford the high personal costs.[1]

[1] World Health Organisation Europe (2022), Bulgaria’s high out-of-pocket payments for health care undermine progress towards universal health coverage: https://www.who.int/europe/news/item/19-07-2022-bulgaria-s-high-out-of-pocket-payments-for-health-care-undermine-progress-towards-universal-health-coverage

Freedom of the press

Bulgarian journalists continue to face threats and pressure from media owners, both public and private. Despite a pluralist media landscape, ownership remains opaque, and many outlets are dependent on state subsidies, making them vulnerable to government influence.[1] A survey conducted by the Association of European Journalists’ Bulgarian section found a significant geographical concentration of media. Two out of three journalists surveyed work in Sofia, and only 18% of respondents reported working for local or regional media outlets. Although journalists reported a drop in external pressures restricting their freedom to report, there has been a worrying increase in self-censorship. This is a result of the need for outlets to cultivate good relations with business and the authorities in order to remain economically viable. Continued work depends on advertising revenue from private businesses and access to information from government sources, both of which can be withdrawn if reporting is critical.[2] The CIVICUS monitor of civic space defines civic space in Bulgaria as narrowed.[3]

[1] Freedom House (2023), Freedom in the World 2022 – Bulgaria: https://freedomhouse.org/country/bulgaria/freedom-world/2022

[2] Association of European Journalists Bulgaria (2022), Media under Fire, 2022 – Annual Survey on Freedom of Speech in Bulgaria: https://aej-bulgaria.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/Media-under-fire_EN.pdf

[3] CIVICUS (2023), Monitor - Bulgaria: https://monitor.civicus.org/country/bulgaria/

Access to energy

Measures to address energy poverty in Bulgaria are hampered by the country’s lack of an official definition of the issue. According to the latest EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) from 2020, 27.5% of Bulgarian households struggle to keep their homes adequately warm, and 22.2% are in arrears on their utility bills. Furthermore, only 250,000 of the 1.66 million Bulgarians that live in poverty receive heating subsidies. This issue has worsened since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent disruption of energy supplies, as 75% of Bulgaria’s natural gas and 100% of its coal were imported from Russia in 2020.[1] Eurostat data from 2021 showed that Bulgaria is the EU state with the direst problem of energy poverty: 23.7% of Bulgarians do not have access to normal heating, compared to the EU average of 6.9%.

[1] European Social Policy Network (2022), ESPN Flash Report - Bulgaria: energy poverty is the foremost challenge for social inclusion policy, due to the war in Ukraine: https://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?langId=en&catId=1135&newsId=10318&furtherNews=yes