‘Equal but…’—The Impact of Gender on Labour Policies

Abstract

The chapter on gender policies towards workers advances an argument that reproductive policies and assumptions concerning gender played an important role in formulating labour policies towards employed women and men. Based on the Soviet model, these policies promised to transform the Yugoslav working class. The Party removed obstacles to women’s employment, education, and advancement, whilst rapid industrialisation opened new opportunities for women to have careers in industries considered inappropriate before the war. However, when the Party moved from rapid industrialisation to the more sustainable economic policies of Yugoslav self-management, many women lost their jobs, whilst the factory managers and skilled workers instigated the process of removing women from the most prestigious and well-paid occupations.