Abstract
This research analyzes gender and informal work arrangements in post-Soviet Komsomolsk, Ukraine, 2002. The central research question for this project is: What is the relationship between gender and participation in informal, “off the books” work arrangements? Opportunities differ for women and men. Women's obligations are centered on the home and on childcare. I examine gender differences in work a decade after the Soviet Union's collapse and explain how and why work experiences differ for men and women in the post-Soviet context. To explore these questions, I employ multiple methods—in-depth interviews, survey and ethnography. Specifically, data were collected on garment work, petty trade, temporary work migration and home production. My data reveal significant gender differences in the informal economy as well as in the formal economy. Women are the main participants in garment work and petty trade in Komsomolsk's local economy. In the realm of temporary migrant work, men comprise the larger proportion of participants. In “home production” (such as childcare and healthcare services), women are the predominant workforce. In the cultivation of household gardens, tasks differ by gender; men are responsible for design and structural maintenance, women are responsible for garden upkeep and making preserves. Both men and women participate in all of these informal activities, but their reasons for undertaking such work arrangements, and the specific tasks performed, all differ by gender. Results suggest that rising pressures of competition as a result of market penetration and declining services from the state creates social conditions in which men and women must find multiple ways to find affordable goods and services. This situation exacerbates gender inequality and instability among workers who find their labor must be increasingly flexible and remunerated with low wages.