International Journal of Managerial Studies and Research (IJMSR) Volume 3, Issue 6, June 2015, PP 134-139 ISSN 2349-0330 (Print) & ISSN 2349-0349 (Online) www.arcjournals.org ©ARC Page 134 Phenomenon of Socio-Economic Inequalities of Unprivileged Groups in the Labor Market. The Case of the Slovak Republic Rene Pawera Faculty of Management Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia rene.pawera@fm.uniba.sk Zuzana Smehylova Faculty of Management Comenius University, Bratislava, Slovakia zuzana.smehylova@fm.uniba.sk Abstract: More than seventy years of shared statehood with the Czech Republic and a quarter century of post‐communist transformation in independent state of Slovakia has shaped inequalities and its impacts in the republic. This article reviews the major socio-economic developments and factors that have resulted in different patterns of inequality. The current Slovak labor market showed signs of recovery in 2014, but unemployment remains high. Disincentives in the social-benefit system have been reduced and some positive results have been obtained in reducing youth unemployment, but long-term unemployment remains a major challenge. Employment among the most disadvantaged groups such as Roma, disabled, older people, the youth is still low. What is more, Slovakia has one of the highest gender pay gap in the EU-28. Keywords: labor market, equal opportunity, gender, diversity, discrimination. 1. INTRODUCTION Slovakia is considered to belong to the group of countries where inequalities grew significantly during the 1990s (OECD, 2014), especially in the labor market. Currently, the unemployment rate decreased slightly in 2014 but remains above the EU average (12.5 % vs 9.9 % in the EU-28 in December 2014) and is mostly structural and long-term in nature. Weak labor demand and a low number of vacancies, in conjunction with one of the lowest labor turnovers in the EU, give rise to one of the highest long-term unemployment rates in the EU (10 % vs 5.1 % in the EU-28 in 2013). The principal reasons for the poor labor market outcome are the low employment of certain groups including Roma, the existence of work disincentives coming from the tax and benefit systems, the weak capacity of the public employment services to assist the most disadvantaged jobseekers, and a relatively low internal geographical labor mobility (European Commission). Youth unemployment declined slightly to 28.9 % in December 2014 (to the lowest level since 2009) but Slovakia still has one of eight the highest rates in the EU. Long-term unemployment is a persistent problem in Slovakia. Over two thirds of the unemployed have been jobless for more than a year, while around half have been jobless for more than two years. Despite some recent improvements, the youth unemployment rate is among the highest in the EU. Low labor mobility reinforces the geographical segmentation of the labor market as reflected by the high regional differences in employment (OECD, 2014) The employment rate for women (20-64) remains well below the EU average (53.4 % vs 58.8 % in 2013). Estimates show that increasing women’s labor force participation to the EU-15 average could increase Slovakia’s GDP by 1.6 percentage points (26).The gender employment gap for young women (20-29) remains high and the impact of parenthood on female employment increased in 2013 and is among the highest in the EU. The employment rate for women (25-49) with children below six years of age is under 40 %, while it is 83 % for men of the same age and marriage status, reflecting the insufficient provision of good quality and affordable childcare services and relatively lengthy parental leaves (Eurostat, 2013). 2. METHODS In addressing this complex question, we first referred to the statistics published by Eurostat on the basis of the Labor Force Survey (LFS) data, from which it is possible to determine the main