Page 45 - S. Ličen, I. Karnjuš, & M. Prosen (Eds.). (2019). Women, migrations and health: Ensuring transcultural healthcare. Koper, University of Primorska Press.
P. 45
Reproductive Health of Migrant Women in Slovenia: State of the Art
Employment Status
Since health insurance in Slovenia depends to a large extent on an individ-
ual’s employment status, it is important to consider the activities of migrant
women in the labour market. As evident in Table 8 (p. 44), there are some in-
teresting differences (considering year 2015) among migrant women accord-
ing to the state of origin. Women who migrate to Slovenia from economically
more developed EU Member States have different reasons compared with
‘other’ migrant women. The latter can also be seen from the obtained data,
which show that the highest number of women from EU Member States
are retired. We can anticipate that some of them came to Slovenia for rea-
sons other than employment, such as higher quality of life, lower costs of
living, safer environment, etc. Meanwhile, a significant number of migrant
women from other European states (except countries of former Yugoslavia)
are employed and the same is true for those who migrated from Africa,
South America, North and Central America, Asia, and Australia and Ocea-
nia. Women from the states of former Yugoslavia are employed (23,874) but
there is a significant number of women who are unemployed (7,385) or ‘other’
inactive (11,284).
Table 9 (p. 44) is very informative, since it shows that there is quite a high
number of unemployed women and women who are inactive in other ways
from the states of former Yugoslavia. By far the highest number of inactive
women migrating and living in Slovenia are from Kosovo. It seems that mi-
grant women from Kosovo have in general the lowest educational level (Ta-
ble 7) and are also most often unemployed or otherwise inactive. In 2015 there
were more than 2000 women from Kosovo who were inactive, 600 registered
as unemployed, and only 509 employed. It can be assumed that those regis-
tered as ‘other inactive’ are housewives who are not actively searching for a
job, as those searching for a job would be registered as unemployed. Also,
numbers from 2015 showing the situation for women coming from Mace-
donia reveal a very high number of inactive women – 1,682 in comparison
with 1,974 employed (in addition to 771 unemployed). It can be anticipated
that among them the biggest number represent ethnic Albanian women, so
that the pattern of in/activity is very similar to those of women coming from
Kosovo.
(Reproductive) Health in Relation to Migrant Women in the National
Legislation
As already mentioned, reproductive health represents one of the individual’s
universal rights framed in the international human rights instruments and
43
Employment Status
Since health insurance in Slovenia depends to a large extent on an individ-
ual’s employment status, it is important to consider the activities of migrant
women in the labour market. As evident in Table 8 (p. 44), there are some in-
teresting differences (considering year 2015) among migrant women accord-
ing to the state of origin. Women who migrate to Slovenia from economically
more developed EU Member States have different reasons compared with
‘other’ migrant women. The latter can also be seen from the obtained data,
which show that the highest number of women from EU Member States
are retired. We can anticipate that some of them came to Slovenia for rea-
sons other than employment, such as higher quality of life, lower costs of
living, safer environment, etc. Meanwhile, a significant number of migrant
women from other European states (except countries of former Yugoslavia)
are employed and the same is true for those who migrated from Africa,
South America, North and Central America, Asia, and Australia and Ocea-
nia. Women from the states of former Yugoslavia are employed (23,874) but
there is a significant number of women who are unemployed (7,385) or ‘other’
inactive (11,284).
Table 9 (p. 44) is very informative, since it shows that there is quite a high
number of unemployed women and women who are inactive in other ways
from the states of former Yugoslavia. By far the highest number of inactive
women migrating and living in Slovenia are from Kosovo. It seems that mi-
grant women from Kosovo have in general the lowest educational level (Ta-
ble 7) and are also most often unemployed or otherwise inactive. In 2015 there
were more than 2000 women from Kosovo who were inactive, 600 registered
as unemployed, and only 509 employed. It can be assumed that those regis-
tered as ‘other inactive’ are housewives who are not actively searching for a
job, as those searching for a job would be registered as unemployed. Also,
numbers from 2015 showing the situation for women coming from Mace-
donia reveal a very high number of inactive women – 1,682 in comparison
with 1,974 employed (in addition to 771 unemployed). It can be anticipated
that among them the biggest number represent ethnic Albanian women, so
that the pattern of in/activity is very similar to those of women coming from
Kosovo.
(Reproductive) Health in Relation to Migrant Women in the National
Legislation
As already mentioned, reproductive health represents one of the individual’s
universal rights framed in the international human rights instruments and
43
