Work, Welfare & Wellbeing: Closing the Gender Gaps

While the legal framework is evolving, practice stays behind. Although the unemployment rate has declined significantly—from 24.3% in 2021 to 13.95% in 2023—women still represent the majority of the unemployed population:

The rate of economic inactivity is also higher among women, who comprise 59.6% of the total inactive population. Most notably, women often cite unpaid care and domestic work as the main reason for not actively seeking employment, which is a reflection of cultural expectations around women’s roles within families.

At the same time, women in Montenegro continue to earn on average 21.6% less than men, meaning they earn €0.78 for every euro a man earns. This reflects broader horizontal and vertical discrepancies in the labor market. Women are often concentrated in lower-paid sectors and are underrepresented in decision-making positions.

Public perceptions also reinforce these structural barriers. According to a UNDP survey, every second citizen believes that employers can ask job applicants to prove they are not pregnant. Additionally, over 50% of respondents believe that men should work while women take care for the family, a belief especially prevalent among men. These perceptions are not just outdated—they are damaging, as they contribute to hiring bias, pay inequality, and the overall marginalization of women in the workforce. Sector-specific data confirms these trends:

Women are most represented in education (78%), health and social work (75%), and retail (57%), while they are nearly absent from construction, energy, and transport. Although women dominate in sectors seen as traditionally “feminine,” their upward mobility within these fields is often blocked by both cultural expectations and institutional bias. Only 35.9% of legislators and senior officials are women.

Health care in Montenegro is governed by three main laws: the Law on Health Care, the Law on Patients’ Rights, and the Law on Mandatory Health Insurance. These laws guarantee non-discriminatory access to high-quality healthcare for all citizens and uphold patients’ rights to privacy, informed choice, and timely care.

However, health outcomes and access are not experienced equally. Women, who make up 50.8% of the total population in Montenegro, live longer than men—but often in poorer health. Life expectancy for women has recently declined by 8.4 months , and women report worse health than men, reflecting a regional trend noted in EU-wide health assessments.

Crucially, women in Montenegro face gender-specific health challenges. Sex-selective abortion has skewed the natural sex ratio at birth, leading to projections of 8,000 fewer women than men within 20 years. Reproductive health services, including breast and cervical cancer screening, are in place but underused or delayed. Breast cancer remains the leading cause of cancer deaths among women, with many diagnoses occurring at advanced stages. Cervical cancer also ranks high, with Montenegro having the highest cervical cancer incidence and mortality rate in Europe.

Efforts such as the National Cervical Cancer Screening Program and HPV vaccination campaigns are steps forward, but coverage and awareness remain inconsistent. HPV vaccination has expanded to include girls and boys, and over 7,300 girls have been vaccinated since the program’s launch.

• Expanding access to digital technologies, especially in rural areas
• Collecting gender-disaggregated health data
• Designing gender-responsive digital solutions and services
• Enhancing digital literacy among women

Despite these strategic commitments, there is still a lack of clarity on implementation and follow-through. A gender-responsive digital health system must go beyond inclusion—it must actively work to eliminate disparities in access, safety, and outcomes. Moreover, a new national strategy for sexual and reproductive health should be adopted, as the previous one expired in 2020.

The intersection of health and employment reveals how gender inequalities are reinforced across systems. When women are expected to carry the dual burden of unpaid care and undervalued professional labor—while also navigating health systems that do not fully meet their needs—their opportunities for social and economic participation are constrained. Montenegro has the legislative tools and strategic foundations to address these challenges. What is needed now is coordinated implementation, continuous data collection, and the will.