Impact of EU Gender Equality Policy on Albanian Economic Development

Lack of economic development, unemployment and lack of work-life balance between woman and men has been one of the main challenges of Western Balkan countries. Their fragile internal political and economic structure has made external actors be very powerful in shaping national policies. In the last fifteen years, European Union has been the main promoter of reforms that can bring the countries of the region closer in line with the EU. The main goal of this paper was to firstly look at the EU gender equality policy in the Western Balkans that applies to Albania as well, and assess its compatibility with the real concerns of Albanian woman. Secondly, the study measured the impact of the first policy, i.e. women inclusion in the labor market, on the economic growth of Albania. This research employed a quantitative methodology based on surveys and a regression analysis. Surveys were conducted with 537 female in Albania clustered mainly according to age and geographical location. Regression analysis was based on official statistical data of the women employment and annual real growth of GDP of Albania in a range of ten years. The results showed that Albanian women are mostly concerned with the lack of economic development and their expectation is that the EU accession policies should primarily address that. In addition to that, the study found out that there exist a direct and positive relationship between women inclusion in the labor market and economic growth. Therefore, EU gender equality agenda covers the main needs of Albanian women as women employment means higher economic growth and less inequality that are factors of economic development.