WOMEN’S REPRESENTATION IN THE MIDDLE CLASS

Abstract

The article is devoted to topical issues of the role of the middle class in social development. It also focuses on approaches of determining middle class’s quantitative classification criteria, the evolution of its interpretation from the traditional (old) to the new middle class. Among the main criteria of belonging to the middle class, it is proposed to distinguish the following: material factors (current income, level of property security), non-material factors (education, intellectual potential, professional and qualification status, level of complexity of professional activity), non-economic factors (free time and quality of leisure time). The role of the middle class as a bearer of democratic values and a guarantor of political freedoms is emphasized. Special attention is paid to the representation of women in the structure of the middle class. It is substantiated that despite the achievements of women in career and public life, their role in the middle class remains understudied. The impact of the ‘fatherhood effect’ on women’s careers has been studied. It has been proven that women perform a greater amount of non-market activities than men (raising children, various housework, caring for sick family members and the elderly, etc.), which is invisible for national accounts and accounting, and therefore has no market value. Proposals have been formulated to expand ideas about women’s ‘invisible work’ and its recognition in society. Two groups of factors ‒ social and psychological ‒ are singled out, which explain the low representation of women in the middle class. The problem of the glass ceiling is outlined as a phenomenon that prevents women from developing in the professional and political spheres. It is substantiated that stereotypes about the division of responsibilities between men and women affect the representation of women in the middle class, and the need to assess the value of housework and recognize its contribution to social development is also indicated. The influence of gender stereotypes on the representation of women in politics is analyzed, and the clustering of women in humanitarian professions is highlighted. It is argued that in wartime Ukrainian women are the most active representatives of the middle class, which has important consequences for social development.