The Europe and Central Asia (ECA)region's relative advantage in gender equality comparedto other regions eroded in the 1999-2009 period. As aresult, the region now looks more similar to the rest of theworld in terms of women's education and labor forceparticipation. Moreover, gender gaps continue to exist insome minority communities and in poor rural areas.Structural changes in the economies of the region have bothopened up economic and employment opportunities for womenand reduced some avenues of prosperity for men. However,women's gains from such opportunities are limited asoccupational segregation and wage gaps persist, despitecomparable human capital endowments. The dramaticdemographic changes affecting the ECA region, such as aging,have different implications for men and women. Inparticular, (i) old age poverty will especially affectwomen, and (ii) the shrinking labor force will make itnecessary to stimulate the labor participation rate of women.
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