ARMENIA: EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN HAVING CHILDREN AND CHILD POVERTY

UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre Piazza SS. Annunziata, 12, 50122 Florence, Italy website: www.unicef.org /irc www.unicef-irc.org Tel: +39 05520330 Fax: +39 055 2033 220 ARMENIA: EMPLOYMENT OF WOMEN HAVING CHILDREN AND CHILD POVERTY Co-ordinator: Astghik Gjulbenkyan Department of Statistics State Register and Analysis,Yerevan MONEE Country Analytical Report 2003 The opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the policies or views of UNICEF 1

MONEE, 2003 ARMENIA: Employment of Women Having Children and Child Poverty According to census data carried out on 10-19 October 2001, the number of permanent population of Armenia amounted to 3213 thousand, from which 1671 thousand or 52.0% were women. According to estimates age structure of female population of the republic as of 1 January 2003 is as follows: Age Number of women, thousand % of women in the population according to age groups 0-14 330.4 47.9 15-49 916.4 51.4 50-64 213.1 54.7 65 and higher 206.8 59.2 Total: 1666.7 51.9 Distribution of households according to gender of the head of the household and the place of living based on the data of 1999, 2001 è 2002 (according to data of household survey) Households Total Urban Rural 1999 2001 2002 1999 2001 2002 1999 2001 2002 Households, including headed by: Woman 26.8 28.6 29.4 30.2 30.8 31.9 21.6 23.9 25.6 Man 73.2 71.4 70.6 69.8 69.2 68.1 78.4 76.1 74.4 The number of children (0-14 yr) per one woman-led household was as follows: 1999-0.9, 2001-0.7, 2002-0.7, and per one man-led household, this ratio was 1.3, 1.0, and 1.0 respectively. 1. Women employment 1.1 The transition from planned to market economy was accompanied by collapse of the sectoral structure of economy. The number of employed population 2

was decreasing every year. By 2002 this number has decreased by 55.0% (excluding population employed in agriculture) as compared to 1990. The decline in employment rate affected mostly women. They suffered from job cuts. Whereas a decline of the percentage of employed women was observed in the first years of transition, a tendency toward balancing is observed during the last few years. Gender structure of employed population: Years Total employed Including: population the economy Men Women 1989 52.0 48.0 1992 52.2 47.8 1993 55.7 44.3 1995 58.5 41.5 1996 58.6 41.4 1999 53.1 46.9 2000 54.5 45.5 2001 54.0 46.0 2002 52.3 47.7 Data for 2002 suggests that women are mostly involved in health care (80.1%), education (76.7%), culture and arts (71.8%), sciences (47.0%). There is a difference in salary rates mainly connected with the nature of employment. It is associated with inter-sectoral differentiation of labor costs. Average monthly salaries in such feminized sectors as health care, education, and culture were 48%, 55%, 45% of the average monthly salary in the republic in 2003. Despite the high proportion of women employment in mentioned sectors, the number of employed women decreased by 77.5% in sciences, 30.6% in health care, 39.6% in culture and arts, 17.5% in education in the period between 1990-2002. Structure of employed population according to gender and sectors of economy is given in the appendix. In sectors like industry and construction, the number of employed women decreased by more than 70%. One of the earliest reforms introduced in Armenia was land privatization, which promoted self-employment of rural population and farming of agricultural products both for consumption and for selling. According to the statistics the total number of population as well as the number of women employed in agriculture increased 1.8 times. 1.2 Rising unemployment in open as well as hidden forms has a negative impact on living conditions of women. Women not only lose their jobs more rapidly but 3

also face difficulties in getting them again. As of the beginning of 2003 according to the data of Employment Service of the Republic of Armenia 9.4% of economically active population did not have jobs and have obtained the status of unemployed. 67.3% of the total number of the unemployed were women. The unemployed population is basically (94.4%) concentrated in urban areas - 26.6% in Yerevan, 19.9% in Gyumri and 11.2% in Vanadzor. Officially registered unemployment breakdown by gender, age and educational level, end of 2002 Number of unemployed of total economically active population total including women Total unemployed below 18 years 0.4 0.4 18-22 6.0 5.6 23-30 21.8 20.0 31-50 63.0 66.0 51 and higher 8.8 8.0 with education as follows: higher 12.5 11.7 professional school 25.1 24.0 mainstream 56.8 59.8 incomplete mainstream 5.6 4.5 Since the beginning of 2002 of 155.5 thousand people seeking jobs 8.5 thousand were hired, of which 90.8% were previously unemployed. Of the total number of unemployed 489 persons passed professional training, of which women were 86.3%. Of these people having passed professional training 252 were hired, of which 84.9% were women. In December 2002 the extent of competition per one vacancy was 170 persons. 1.3 Randomly selected set of workforce was studied in the second quarter of 2002. 1160 households participated in this survey. 2817 data sheets were filled in for citizens between 16-70 years of age as well as for employed persons older or younger than the designated age group. The findings of this study showed that employed population amounted to 61.9% of economically active population including women - 43.4% and men - 56.6 %. According to the data of the study, the highest proportion of employment was in agriculture, hunting and forestry - 22.3 %, in education - 14.8 %, government 4

and administration, compulsory social insurance - 12.7 %, trade, car repair, household goods and items of individual use - 13.6 %; in the rest of sectors it fluctuated in the range of 0.1 % (services for households) and 9.9% (processing industry). At the moment of survey, 45.3% of employed population was involved in the public sector of economy and 53.4% - in the private sector. Percentage of employed population according to gender and age composition 26,9 70 and higher 38,6 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 45-49 40-44 35-39 30-34 38,5 25-29 37,3 20-24 15-19 44,0 56,0 46,5 53,5 50,2 49,8 43,4 56,6 44,5 55,5 46,6 53,4 43,9 56,1 50,0 50,0 73,1 61,4 61,5 62,7 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Men Women As for the educational level, in the composition of employed population 24.8% had higher education, 30.1% - professional training, 36.8 - completed school and 6.6% had not completed school. The job performed corresponded to the qualification or profession possessed for 76.1% of employed population, 21.6% performed jobs which required qualifications below those possessed and 2.3% performed jobs higher than qualifications possessed. 5

Percentage of employed according to gender and educational level 70 60 50 51,4 48,6 62,5 47,7 52,3 64,8 69,2 59,5 40 30 37,5 35,2 30,8 40,5 Men Women 20 10 0 Higher Incomplete higher Professional school Mainstream Incomplete mainstream Pre-school The study of the workforce sample made it possible to estimate the real unemployment apart from the officially registered data, since the mentioned study was based on the proposal of International Labor Organization for standard definition of unemployment according to which all persons who do not have a job, are seeking a job and are ready to take one immediately, are considered as unemployed. Meanwhile the level of registered unemployment is estimated according to the law of RA on Employment according to which citizens of the age of 16 or above who do not have a job, have applied to the Employment service of RA for getting a job and have work experience of not less than one year, are considered as unemployed. According to the results of the study carried out among 1160 households in the second quarter of 2002 the real level of unemployment was estimated to be 31.4% of economically active population. It is interesting that the findings of the study suggest that in 2002 a decrease in the level of unemployment was observed in the republic both with respect to officially registered data and that defined based on ILO definition. In the first case, the annual average level of officially registered unemployment went down by 0.1 percentage points, in the second case by 1.4 percentage points. 1.4 Based on the results of the household study implemented in 2001 and 2002, 6

data on men s and women s earnings from work remuneration and selfemployment was analyzed. As it can be seen from the table below, average monthly earnings of women are 2 times lower than those of men, although the difference of earnings from self-employment is less (1.5 times). Distribution of employed population according to gender and source of earnings drams Men Women 2001 2002 2001 2002 Average monthly earnings including from paid work from self-employment 32375 31753 33768 32890 31959 34993 17040 16660 19379 17589 16724 23173 The percentage of working women having children between 0-14 years of age is significantly lower. While in 2001 only 20.3% of women having children below the age of 14 had earnings, in 2002-20.9% were. In 2001 9.9% of women with children below 2 years worked and in 2002 only 7.2%. 13.5% of women with children between 3-6 years worked in 2001 and 15.1% - in 2002. 2. Public policy for assistance to working women 2.1 The coverage of children by pre-school institutions is decreasing from year to year while kindergartens represent an important component of the educational system. According to data from state statistical service, coverage of children by pre-school institutions was 45% in early 90s, in 2001 it fell to 25%, in 2002-26%. According to data from state statistics in 2002 there were 692 children s preschool institutions in the republic. They were attended by 45.4 thousand children. 64% of pre-school institutions are located in urban areas. 84% of all children attending pre-school institutions are from urban areas. The great majority of state-owned children s institutions (98.8%) were functioning with 5-day working mode and only 0.9% of them had 24-hour working days. The rest of the institutions were functioning with 6-day mode. During 2002 34.1 thousand cases of health problems were registered, from which 49.5% were for flu and acute respiratory infections (in 2001 43.5%). 7

Number of cases of morbidity of children in state pre-school institutions Disease Number of registered cases including: girls Flu and acute respiratory infections 16866 8859 Sour throat 7918 4212 Disenteria 81 26 Accidents, poisoning, trauma 239 89 Pneumonia 145 79 Scarlatina 173 77 Enterocolitis and gasteroenteritis 117 84 Other diseases 8537 4389 Total 34076 17815 In 2002 the number of staff in pre-school institutions was 12.1 thousand (in 2001-12.7 thousand), of which 44.5% - pedagogical personnel (in 2001-43.9%). Pedagogical personnel in pre-school institutions comprise almost only women, which can be seen from the data given below: Number of personnel total Including : women Higher and incomplete Including: having the following education including: Professiona women l school (persons) including : women Total 12140 11348 2547 2403 5843 5589 including: pedagogs 3900 3900 1358 1358 2363 2363 including: music tutors 650 650 179 179 399 399 pedagog-defectolog 4 4 4 4 - - speech therapist 7 7 7 7 - - According to data from the study of households in 2001 14% of surveyed children below 7 attended pre-school institutions. The main reason for nonattendance is related to the fact that mothers do not work (49% of responses). Every fifth child does not attend kindergarten because it is expensive and 13% of children do not attend because of closing of the nearest pre-school institution. While there is a wide coverage of children between 7 and 16 years by all three stages of school education, an insignificant percentage of children can afford to pay for private lessons. The average monthly cost of private lessons per one 8

student was 8.5 thousand drams. Average monthly expenses per one student was 2.6 thousand drams, but the maximum expense reached 111 thousand drams. A very small portion of students can afford to pay for private tutors to enter a higher educational institution. The average cost of a course was 90 US dollars, the maximum cost reached 500 US dollars. 2.2 The most important social program implemented in Armenia is the program of poverty benefits for families and lump sum cash benefits. The program of poverty benefits for families is active since 1999. The main objective of the program is to support poor families financially. During the last few years, family benefits mainly targeted poor families with adolescent children. Since 2002 the amount of benefits depended on the number of adolescents and since July 2003 the amount of marginal sum per each adolescent increased from 1500 to 2000 drams. The percentage of families with adolescent children in the total number of families receiving poverty benefits is increasing every year. Percentage of families receiving benefits in the total number of registered Percentage of families with children in the total number of registered 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 (I half) 40.7 50.5 54.7 54.9 67.8 36.3 47.2 54.5 60.8 63.5 2.3 Allowance for child birth. Currently there are three types of allowances for child birth in Armenia: 1. Lump sum allowance, the objective of which is to partially compensate for additional expenses incurred with childbirth - presently paid from social security state fund. 2. Monthly allowance to persons for care of children below 2, which is essentially a partially paid vacation - paid from the state budget. Along with this, current legislation stipulates an unpaid annual vacation after 2-years partially paid vacation. After these 3 years, the employer is responsible to appoint the woman to the same or equivalent job. 3. Allowance for pregnancy and childbirth, which is granted as a paid vacation for working women and equals 70 calendar days before the childbirth and 70 calendar days afterwards. The allowance equals average monthly salary of the last three weeks calculated on a daily basis. Only working women have the right to receive allowance for children below 2. 9

The number of women receiving this allowance is given below: 1999 10450 2000 91 2001 8780 2002 7326 From this data it can be concluded that employers refuse to take on young women because of long vacations for childbirth and care. Young women avoid having children being afraid that they will lose their jobs and this will negatively affect the demographic situation of the republic in the long run. It is worth mentioning that the amount of child care allowance is very low and is 2300 drams monthly. This cannot support young families financially. The number of women receiving lump sum allowances for childbirth is given below: 1999 26200 2000 24500 2001 25674 2002 25707 According to the statistics, the decline in birth rate is caused by the decrease of the number of second and third children in the families. The amount of lump sum allowance for childbirth was 5900 drams before October 2003 and is 35000 drams at present. The following steps are considered as measures to ensure better reproduction of the population and enhance the efficiency of childbirth allowance system: 1. Significantly increase lump sum allowances for childbirth by an amount that will cover a considerable portion of additional expenses incurred with childbirth and start paying allowances from the state budget starting with 2005. 2. Reduce the duration of partially paid vacations for care of children under 1 year of age starting with 2005. 3. The duration of the allowance for pregnancy and childbirth is fairly long for the current situation in Armenia. Starting with 2004 the allowance duration will be reduced to 112 days (126 days for complicated cases and 156 days if more than 1 child is born). Starting with 2005 the allowance for pregnancy and childbirth will be funded from the state budget because the allowance is not of insurance nature. 2.4 Employment program Employment programs include unemployment benefits, support for job search as well as financial allowances to the unemployed. Currently, persons who have paid mandatory payments for social security at least 12 months, have the right to receive unemployment benefits. The period of this benefit depends on the length of the work experience of the applicant and is 10

between 5 and 12 months. The benefit amount also depends on work experience. The benefits are paid from the State Fund of Social Security of RA. After the period of unemployment benefit, the unemployed person has the right to receive financial support for 3 months. The unemployed person who is registered in the employment center has the right to participate in training courses free of charge, which are financed from the social security fund. During 2002 8.5 thousand people found jobs. From the given data it can be seen that the system of training of unemployed and the system of job search for them are highly inefficient. Insignificant financial resources at the disposal of state training systems do not allow a hope for quality of human resources training that can meet the requirements of the current labor market. Unemployment benefits will be changed to support the unemployed with larger amounts but for a shorter period. The extent and conditions of these benefits will be defined by the government in 2004. 2.5 Other benefits Benefits for temporary work incapability Employed persons, paying mandatory social security, have the right to receive benefits for temporary work incapability in the case of general, professional illness or trauma. The value of the benefit depends on work experience and corresponds to 80-% of the salary. Unlike many other countries, the benefit in Armenia is paid from the fund of social security. Partial payment of the benefit by the employer will allow to more effectively control the allocation of these benefits. For that reason starting with 2004, the benefit for temporary work incapability will be paid by the employer during the first two weeks. Appropriate changes to legislation will be made in 2003. Referrals for resort treatment are granted from the state fund of social security of RA according to a number of laws including the law on Social protection of disabled persons. 150 thousand citizens have the right to receive resort treatment in the republic, of which 110 are disabled. In 2002 480 mln drams have been spent on these benefits, in 2003-550 mln drams were planned for this system. 2.6 Investments in human capital Health care General survey In the field of health care, the program has the objective to move from adverse trends of the development of the system in the last few years to the realization of the constitutional rights of the citizens for the best protection of their health through rapid increase of the accessibility and quality of health services guaranteed by the state (first of all for socially vulnerable population). The main objective of measures proposed is to reduce infant and maternal mortality, which represent target indicators of millennium development set by the UN. 11

The level of expenditures of the state budget in health care is rather low. During 1998-2002 the highest level of expenditures was 1.4% of GDP (for the sake of comparison it is worth mentioning that this indicator is 3% in medium-income countries). The importance of this issue does not lessen even if we take into account that in the last few years the significant part of funding for health care was coming from humanitarian aid. The difference appears more sizeable when the comparison is made on the basis of the level of per capita state expenditures on health care. In 1997 in countries of Europe and Central Asia per capita expenditures amounted to 123$US, while in Armenia it is 7$US. Meanwhile a major portion of state expenditures for health care is directed to hospital support/maintenance. 2.7 Social security programs Social assistance to the elderly and the disabled. The essence of the program of social assistance to the disabled is based on the requirements stipulated by the law of RA On social protection of the disabled. They are: prevention of disability, issues of medical-social rehabilitation and protesis, in particular protesis-orthopedic assistance to pensioners, ensuring the supply of rehabilitation accessories, improvement of the system of medical-social assessment, social support of lonely pensioners and disabled. 2.8 Program of social assistance to children In the system of the Ministry of Social Security of RA there are 8 active orphanages of which two are for children with limited abilities. Along with this, there are 3 non-state orphanages in the republic. Families where the head of the family is a woman (today there are 55 thousand of such families in the republic and they have 63.7 thousand children in their care) are classified as one of the most vulnerable segments of the population. From these children 23.8 thousand (37.4%) are children of single mothers, 11.1 thousand (17.4%) those of divorced parents, and 28.8 thousand (45.2%) those having lost the man who used to care for them. The great majority of children in orphanages are from incomplete families although in the last few years there was an increase of the percentage of children from complete but socially vulnerable families in the total number of children in orphanages. The care for 1 child in the orphanage costs 50000 drams per month. Starting with 2004 after the adoption of the new Family Code and relevant bylaws, children from orphanages will gradually move to guardianship/foster families which will be paid 600000 drams per annum. Besides efficiency in emotional and psychological senses, they are more effective economically. This will also help to solve the housing problems for children who come out of orphanages as adults. Total expenditures of orphanages in 2003-2015 are planned to equal 366 mln drams. Boarding schools are mainly attended by children from socially vulnerable 12

families. This is not true for some specialized boarding schools for children with mental and physical disabilities as well as schools for delinquent children. It is necessary to move children from socially vulnerable families to mainstream schools and save these resources to solve problems of food, clothing and educational materials for them. Social protection and integration of these children in the society are considered important issues and for that purpose the state implements the program of State support to graduates of children s guardianship institutions starting with 2003. 2.9 Insurance pensions when loss of the head of the household occurs The number of beneficiaries for these pensions in 2001 was 14.4 thousand or 2.6% of all pensioners Ratio of average pension to poverty line, Ratio of social pension to food poverty line, Ratio of elderly pensioners to population, 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2009 2012 2015 41.7 51.1 58.0 68.5 75.7 109.3 135.9 161.0 53.8 46.2 61.3 63.9 66.2 80.9 98.9 119.8 13.1 12.3 12.1 11.0 10.9 9.5 8.7 8.4 Starting with 2002 pensions for the elderly will exceed and pensions for the disabled will reach the food poverty line. The poverty line will be exceeded by 2008. Social pensions will exceed the food poverty line by 2013. This can take place in the case financial stability of the system, which in turn will be conditioned by the economic growth and unprecedented decline of the number of pensioners especially as to elderly, which will continue till 2015. The ratio of average pension and average salary will be improved as well - from 19.4% in 2002 to 37% in 2014-2015. 3. Child poverty 3.1 Currently there is no officially approved minimum consumer basket, which would serve as the poverty line in the country. The structure and the content of consumer basket suggested by the findings of household survey implemented in 1996 with the technical and financial assistance of the World Bank is used for definition of poverty line. Usage of the same structure and content of the minimum consumer basket allows to track the changes taking place in the living standards of the population in that period. Minimum consumer basket is based on food product basket as required for survival while consumption of industrial goods and services is calculated based on 13

structure. 61.3% of the value is food basket and 38.7% - industrial goods and services. Dynamics of the value of minimum consumer basket Poverty line, including drams $US Food poverty line, including drams $US 1996 1999 2001 2002 10784 24.8 6612 15.2 11735 22.6 7194 13.8 12019 21.7 7368 13.3 12261 21.4 7516 13.1 In order to draw food poverty line, 24 types of mostly food products have been selected. Since the majority of poor population is concentrated in 3-7 deciles, the actual consumption of food products is estimated on the basis of their average per capita consumption. It amounted to 2040 kcal per capita daily. Nevertheless, according to recommendations of FAO, for poor countries the minimum daily energy value per capita should achieve 2 kcal. For that purpose a recalculation was done through adjusting the weights of selected food products and the actual food products basket (in natural form) obtained in this way was adopted as minimum food basket and its value was defined as food poverty line. For construction of poverty line, information about households whose spending on food products equaled the value of actual minimum food basket, was used. The coefficient of expenditures of households on products and services was estimated based on the actual structure of expenditures of households chosen in the way described above. On the basis of food basket and coefficient of spending on products and services the actual minimum consumer basket was calculated, the value of which was defined as poverty line. 3.2 In order to estimate the dynamics, poverty level and the extent of poverty situation changes, it was measured with analogous indicators. The analysis of poverty is based on the method of absolute poverty line. According to analysis of data from integrated survey of households, the percentage of poor population in 2002 was 49.7%. Compared to data of 1996, the percentage of poor population decreased from 54.7% to 49.7%. 14

Dynamics of main indicators of poverty in the republic 1996 1999 2001 2002 Well off 45.3 44.95 49.1 50.3 Poor 27,0 32.14 34.9 36.6 Extremely poor 27.7 22.91 16.0 13.1 Depth of poverty 21.5 19.0 15.1 Sharpness of poverty 11.1 9.0 6.1 Gini Coefficient according to Total income 0.653 0.570 0.528 Current income 0.602 0.593 0.535 Current expenditures 0.444 0.372 0.344 As it can be seen from the table, a tendency towards the decrease of the percentage of poor population is observed and, what is more important, the percentage of the poorest population decreases at higher rates, which is most probably caused by the targeted social policy of the state and the assistance which the poorest population is provided with. Social support for the poorest population results in the transition of part of this group to the category of poor population. However the level of social support is not so high as to bring them out of poverty. The reality at present is the high growth rate of inequality and the polarization in the society. The degree of heterogeneity (differentiation) of distribution of income and expenditures is identified by Gini index. 3.3 Poverty and risk groups Such demographic groups as children and pensioners are vulnerable in any society and based on their social situation one can judge about the development level of the society in which they live. However, a fairly significant part of the population of working age mostly having high professional level turned up to be not needed in the labor market. At present all demographic groups are under poverty risk (to different extents though). Unlike pensioners children are under higher poverty risk. Higher numbers of children might imply less economical activeness of women. The responsibilities for the care of children make it difficult for women to maintain their jobs even in cases when they want to work. Women unemployment rate is rather high. Which households are under highest poverty risk? The most vulnerable households are those with lots of members, which include three or more children between 0 and 14 years. 15

Households All surveyed with three or more children aged 0-14 years with children aged 5 years or younger households 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 Total number of households including: well off 32.9 34.7 39.8 41.5 50.3 55.6 poor 34.8 38.8 33.6 39.0 30.5 31.9 Extremely poor 32.3 26.5 26.6 19.5 19.2 12.5 In 2001 about two thirds of households with three or more children were below poverty line while one quarter of households were in extreme poverty. The average size of the poorest households is the highest and those households have the largest number of children. Average household Children aged 0-14 size, persons 1999 2001 1999 2001ã Total number of households 4.29 4.08 1.19 0.95 well off 3.83 3.69 0.93 0.73 poor 4.52 4.37 1.33 1.11 extremely poor 5.13 5.06 1.69 1.51 Percentage of the poor population in the following households types Three or more children aged 0-14 Household types Children aged 5 years or younger Total in the republic 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 Well off 32.4 33.9 37.8 39.6 45.0 49.1 Poor 33.7 39.3 33.5 38.7 32.1 34.9 Extremely 33.9 26.8 28.7 21.7 22.9 16.0 poor Total 16

Multi-factor linear regression on data from 2001 shows that each additional child aged 0-14 years worsens the poverty level in the family by 5.3%, and each new member of the household by 4.6%. 3.4 Accessibility of education In the transition period the inequality in opportunities of receiving education deepens. Poverty according to educational level in 2001 Total including well off poor extremely poor Population aged 6 or higher according to educational level: illiterate 43.1 37.7 19.2 incomplete pre-school 42.4 39.0 18.6 pre-school 46.6 35.9 17.5 incomplete mainstream school 43.7 37.4 18.9 mainstream school 48.0 35.3 16.7 professional school 54.4 33.3 12.3 incomplete higher 61.4 28.8 9.8 higher 66.0 24.8 9.2 From the above table, it can be seen that the higher the educational level the lower the poverty risk. Market economy poses demands for qualified labor force. At the beginning of the transition period, the adults population was almost fully literate; the attendance rate of educational institutions was very high. The percentage of those graduated from an institution among those who entered the same institution was also very high. Provision rate of textbooks was high. Cases of class repeat and drop-out were rare. At present the risk for children from poor families to be unable to receive education is high, an education that is a must for them to get actively involved in the economy. Many parents face difficulties in financing expenses associated with the study of children in schools (e.g. purchase of clothing, textbooks and school items). Besides, as a result of budget funding cuts, a part of expenditures for the educational system, which the state used to cover in the past, is transferred to households. It is difficult for children from poor families to obtain financial means to continue studies in higher grades of school and in higher educational institutions. 17

The education provided by state school system does not prepare students to succeed in competition and growing demands for knowledge. There stands a task for the country to sustain common accessibility of education, improve the quality of education with the objective to ensure everybody an opportunity to improve their living standards in the market economy. 3.5 Accessibility of health care The loss of the main achievements of health care in the era of socialism, which used to provide complete coverage of population with free health services resulted in an exacerbated situation for the poorer groups of the population. Unsatisfactory levels of investments in health care mostly affect the poor. Old diseases come back and new ones appear posing serious threats to the health of the population in general. Tuberculosis is one of the main diseases that firstly affect the poor segments of the population. The spread of HIV/AIDS poses another serious threat. Malnutrition problems remain eminent. The deficit of microelements in an organism as a result of insufficient quantities of vitamins and mineral substances leads to a number of adverse consequences growth retardation, weakening of the immune system, mental development problems, low levels of productivity and weakness of the reproduction function. Three microelements play the most important role in preventing these pathologies iron, iodine, and vitamin A. In 2002 a DHS with sample size of 6500 households was carried out in Armenia, which resulted in data characterizing the Nutritional Status of Children. Anthropometry provides one of the most important indicators of children s nutritional status. Height and weight measurements were obtained for respondents children who were born in the five-year period preceding the survey. The data on height and weight were used to compute three summary indices of nutritional status: height-for-age, weight- for -height, and weight-for-age. These indices indicate children s susceptibility to diseases and their chances of survival. The nutritional indices are expressed as standardized score (Z-scores) or standard deviation units from the median for the international reference population recommended by the World Health Organization. Children who fall more than two standard deviations below the reference median are regarded as undernourished, while those who fall more than three standard deviations below the reference median are considered severely undernourished. In the survey, children born to female respondents since January 1995 were eligible for height and weight measurements. Of the 1.596 children eligible for measurement (i.e.; age 0-59 months at the time of the survey), 1.461 (92 percent) were measured and had consistent results. Table shows the nutritional status for these children by selected demographic and background characteristics. 18

Nutritional status of children Percentage of children under five years classified as malnourished according to three antropemetric indices of nutritional Status, : height-for-age,weight-for- height, and weight-for-age, by demographic and background characteristics Charasteristic Height-for-age(stunted) Weight-for- height(wasted) Weight-for-age(underweight) Percentage below -3SD Percentage below -2SD 1 Mean Z-score (SD) Percentage below -3SD Percentage below -2SD 1 Mean Z-score (SD) Percentage below -3SD Percentage below -2SD 1 Mean Z- score (SD) Child s age (months) >6 0.0 4.0-0.1 0.0 3.7 0.5 0.4 1.6 0.4 132 6-11 1.8 5.9-0.1 0.4 2.5 0.6 0.2 2.0 0.4 135 12-23 1.2 15.2-0.7 0.8 3.7 0.6 0.4 2.8 0.0 276 24-35 1.9 11.6-0.4 0.5 1.1 0.5 0.0 3.0 0.1 262 36-47 4.9 16.1-0.9 0.0 0.4 0.6 0.4 2.3-0.1 318 48-59 3.2 15.7-0.9 0.0 1.9 0.5 0.0 3.0-0.2 340 Child s sex Male 3.0 12.3-0.7 0.4 2.2 0.6 0.2 2.4 0.0 837 Female 2.0 14.0-0.6 0.1 1.7 0.5 0.2 2.8 0.0 626 Residence Urban 1.6 10.1-0.5 0.5 2.2 0.6 0.2 2.4 0.1 750 Rural 3.6 16.0-0.8 0.1 1.7 0.5 0.3 2.8-0.1 713 Number Of children Total 2.5 13.0-0.7 0.3 2.0 0.6 0.2 2.6 0.0 1.463 Note: Table is based on children born 0-59 months preceding the survey whose mothers were interviewed. Each of the indices is expressed in standard deviation (SD) units from the median of the NCHS/CDC/WHO International Reference Population. The percentage of children who are more than three or more than two standard deviations below (i.e., away in the negative direction) the median of the International Reference Population (-3 SD and -2 SD) are shown according to demographic characteristics. Table is based on children with valid dates of birth (month and year) and valid measurement of both height and weight. 1 Includes children who are below -3 standard deviations from the International Reference Population median Children whose height-for-age is below minus two standard deviations from the median of the reference population are considered stunted or short for their age. This condition reflects chronic malnutrition. Overall, 13 percent of children under age five are stunted; 3 percent are severely stunted. In general, children of higher birth orders, children residing in rural areas, and children born to mothers with less education are more likely to be stunted. For example, the children of mothers with a primary/middle school education are almost three times as likely as the children of mothers with a higher education to be stunted (21 percent versus 8 percent). The most significant consequences of this situation in health care are as follows: 19

1. the poor hardly affording treatment in inpatient clinics 2. low probability of referrals to medical assistance because of the lack of financial means. The majority of patients lack financial means to buy medications. Part of women have home births. Reforms in health care can play a major role in the provision of economic growth and reduction of poverty. However, in the transition period, difficulties with funding of health care system led to the deterioration of indicators of the health of the population. Data of 2001 survey show that both the poor and the well off had illnesses and traumas during the last month (12,7% of respondents - the poor and the poorest and14,7% - the well off). 8,8% of interviewed persons applied to a doctor, but the well off applied to a doctor 2,4 times more than the poorest. Respondents referred to a doctor, of all respondents Respondents, total 8.8 including: well off 11.9 poor 6.1 extremely poor 4.9 Members of households spent on average6181 drams on health care. These expenses for the well off were 45 times more than for the poorest and 12 times more than for the poor. 3.6 Dependence of the level of poverty on the composition of the household (According to data of the survey of households in 2001) If the family has two parents which are married, the more typical case is the presence of two children (43.5%) and then another (37.8%), and if both parents work, usually there is one child (43.6%) and then only two (38.2%). Naturally, more than half (52.9%) of families with one parent have one child, though more than one third of these families have two children. The poverty levels in these types of households are different. The children live in more favorable conditions when both parents work; but even in these families a correlation between the number of children and living conditions is observed the more the children the lower the living conditions. Yet, if the child lives with only one of the parents his/her living conditions are considerably worse. These data are given in more detail in the following tables. 20

1. Structure of surveyed households with two married parents with children 1999 2001 Total number of households with children aged up to 14 including: with 1 child with 2 child with 3 child with 4 child with 5 child 28.8 43.9 21.2 4.3 1.8 37.8 43.5 15.1 2.8 0.8 2. Poverty level of households with two married parents with children Total well off poor extremely poor 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 According to households 43.0 46.4 33.5 37.1 23.5 16.5 According to population 40.5 44.4 33.6 37.8 25.9 17.8 3. Poverty level of households with two married parents depending to the number of children Total number of households with children aged up to 14 with two parents including with 1 child with 2 child with 3 child with 4 child with 5 child Total well off poor extremely poor 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 52.4 42.9 33.9 35.0 28.0 53.6 45.0 36.9 30.0 27.3 29.9 35.1 35.4 31.3 24.0 35.1 38.2 38.1 46.0 36.4 17.7 22.0 30.7 33.7 48.0 11.3 16.8 25.0 24.0 36.3 21

4. Structure of surveyed households with two married parents both working Total number of households with children aged up to 14 including: with 1 child with 2 child with 3 child with 4 child with 5 child 1999 2001 26.5 38.5 26.8 6.3 1.9 43.6 38.2 15.4 1.9 0.9 5. Poverty level of households with two married parents both working Total well off poor extremely poor 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 According to households 48.8 58.5 30.3 34.6 20.9 6.9 According to population 46.4 55.7 31.0 36.5 22.6 7.8 6. Poverty level of households with two married parents both working depending on the number of children Total number of household with two parents with children up to 14 including with 1 child with 2 child with 3 child with 4 child with 5 child Total well off poor extremely poor 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 63.9 51.3 32.4 44.2 44.5 64.1 58.4 49.2 37.5-21.7 29.5 40.7 27.9 22.2 31.0 36.0 38.5 62.5 33.3 14.4 19.2 26.9 27.9 33.3 4.9 5.6 12.3-66.7 22

7. Structure of surveyed households with one parent according to the number of children 1999 2001 Total number of household with one parent with children up to 14 including: with 1 child with 2 child with 3 child with 4 child with 5 child 55.5 36.0 5.5 2.5 0.5 52.9 39.3 6.8 0 1.0 8. Poverty level of households with one parent and children Total well off poor extremely poor 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 According to households 34.0 35.9 34.5 37.4 31.5 26.7 According to population 31.5 41.5 36.0 33.6 32.5 24.9 9. Poverty level of households with one parent depending on the number of children Total number of household with one parent with children up to 14 including with 1 child with 2 child with 3 child with 4 child with 5 child Total well off poor extremely poor 1999 2001 1999 2001 1999 2001 41.5 26.4 18.2 20.0 0 36.7 38.3 21.4 0 0 31.5 37.5 27.3 60.0 38.5 33.3 50.0 0 50.0 27.0 36.1 54.5 20.0 0 24.8 28.4 28.6 0 50.0 23

The data of the population census carried out in 2001 are in the stage of processing and only data on gender-age structure of the population are published as yet. The previous census of the population carried out in January 1989 is not analyzed according to families and their composition since it was carried out a month after the devastating earthquake (7 December 1988) when the population of 1/3 of the territory of the republic was evacuated from Armenia. The table below was provided by the department of population census. According to the population census of 2001 the number of men and women in working age (15-59 years) with the breakdown of women according to their family situation is given below: Persons Single women 284007 Women in marriage or joint living 649359 Total number of women 1027700 Total number of men 946484 24

Structure of employed population according to the sectors of economy 1990 1995 2000 2002 Appendix 1 total men women total men women total men women total men women Total for the economy Industry 30.4 26.7 34.4 20.5 16.8 25.8 14.1 15.4 12.4 12.9 14.1 11.7 Agriculture and forestry 17.4 19.3 15.4 37.2 47.2 23.2 44.4 47.4 40.6 45.3 47.9 42.4 Construction 11.3 19.2 2.7 5.1 7.6 1.7 3.6 5.5 1.4 3.3 5.2 1.1 Transport and communication 5.2 7.1 3.2 3.6 4.6 2.2 3.6 4.9 2.2 3.6 4.9 2.3 Trade and catering 6.2 5.3 7.1 6.8 6.1 7.7 8.4 9.3 7.3 9.0 10.6 7.2 Housing and utilities Household services 4.0 4.9 3.1 3.5 4.0 2.9 2.9 3.8 1.8 2.7 4.0 1.4 Health care, sports and social 2.3 10.1 services 5.8 2.0 9.9 5.8 2.4 10.6 6.3 3.3 9.9 6.1 Education 9.3 5.0 14.0 10.0 5.3 16.7 9.9 4.2 16.9 10.6 4.7 17.1 Culture and arts 2.7 2.3 3.1 2.2 1.2 3.7 2.1 1.1 3.3 1.9 1.0 2.8 Science and scientific services 3.2 3.0 3.5 1.6 1.3 1.8 1.2 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.2 Crediting and state insurance 0.5 0.2 0.7 0.6 0.3 0.9 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.5 0.4 0.5 Administration 1.7 1.9 1.5 2.0 2.0 1.9 2.1 2.4 1.8 2.2 2.5 1.8 Other 2.3 3.1 1.4 1.1 1.2 0.9 0.8 1.1 0.4 0.7 1.2 0.4 25