Pathways to Empowering Women in Uzbekistan’s Labor Market

CAP Uzbekistan POLICY BRIEF No 7 by Olga Popova and Vladimir Otrachshenko

Supporting entrepreneurship, improving childcare infrastructure, and advancing digital and financial inclusion can help transform Uzbekistan’s demographic trends into a driver of national prosperity.

Olga Popova is a Senior Researcher in the Economics Department of the Leibniz Institute for East and Southeast European Studies (IOS, Regensburg, Germany) and a Research Fellow of the Global Labor Organization (GLO) and the IZA@LISER network (Luxembourg). She holds a PhD in Economics from the Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education – Economics Institute (CERGE-EI) and Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic). Her research examines the role of the environment, institutional legacies, and inequalities in economic development and individual behavior, with a focus on Central and Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

Vladimir Otrachshenko is a Senior Researcher in the Research Department of the National Bank of Slovakia and a Research Fellow at the IZA@LISER network (Luxembourg). He is a coordinator of the European System of Central Banks (ESCB) Research Cluster on Climate Change (2026-2027). He holds a PhD in Economics from Nova School of Business and Economics (Lisbon, Portugal). His research interests include climate change, environmental economics and policymaking, business and labor market development, and sustainability.

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Abstract

This policy brief summarizes the key features of women’s empowerment in Uzbekistan’s labor market, focusing on employment, self-employment, and educational attainment. It highlights how labor market informality and unpaid care responsibilities constrain women’s economic empowerment. Addressing these structural barriers and aligning women’s empowerment policies with national development goals—specifically by supporting entrepreneurship, improving childcare infrastructure, and advancing digital and financial inclusion—can help transform Uzbekistan’s demographic trends into a driver of national prosperity.

Acknowledgments: This policy brief is based on a paper Popova, O., Otrachshenko, V. (2026). Women’s empowerment in Uzbekistan: Challenges and opportunities for the labor market. Central Asia Program. George Washington University. The views expressed in this brief are those of the authors and do not represent the official views of organizations with which the authors are affiliated.

The Economic Rationale for Women’s Empowerment

Empowerment is a transformative process through which individuals who were previously deprived of the ability to make strategic life choices gain such capacity (Kabeer 1999). It comprises three interrelated pillars:

Resources: Preconditions such as access to material assets, legal rights, and freedom of movement.

Agency: The capacity for independent decision-making and acting upon one’s own goals.

Outcomes: The realization of specific life choices and achievements.

Women’s empowerment is distinct from the empowerment of other groups in two important respects. First, women are represented across all socioeconomic strata. Second, family relations are central to their specific limitations and opportunities that shape women’s lives. In Uzbekistan, these components are also shaped by historical legacy and cultural traditions. While the Soviet legacy institutionalized gender parity in education and employment, these achievements coexist with deeply rooted traditional norms. Consequently, Uzbek women often balance formal employment, domestic care, and the maintenance of traditions and cultural festivities.

Global evidence suggests that women’s empowerment is positively associated with economic performance at the national level (Duflo 2012). There are three principal channels through which empowerment can contribute to economic growth (ILO 2021, Otrachshenko et al. 2024; Popova and Otrachshenko 2026):

Higher productivity: Greater participation of women in the labor market promotes innovation and strengthens human capital development.
Household income diversification: Empowering women enables families to diversify income sources and occupational choices, thereby increasing resilience to economic shocks.
Targeted poverty reduction: Increasing female participation in formal economic activities contributes to lower poverty rates.

This rationale suggests that women’s empowerment is not merely a tool for social progress but a prerequisite for sustainable economic development, as it unlocks labor market potential and supports economic growth.

Current Labor Market Landscape in Uzbekistan

A key indicator of women’s empowerment is labor market participation. Despite substantial advances in women’s position in the labor market during the Soviet era and the transition to a market economy, gender disparities in Uzbekistan’s labor market persist. Current data indicate that women’s unemployment remains approximately twice that of men, while women’s labor force participation rate is only about half that of men (Figure 1). On the other hand, women account for 42% of registered self-employed individuals in Uzbekistan (as of 2024) (Popova and Otrachshenko 2026; UNDP 2025). Women are engaged in many services, including tailoring, perfumery, baking, retail trade, hairdressing, and agriculture. Nevertheless, while the share of women business owners in Uzbekistan is comparable to that in developed countries, women’s access to leadership positions in business remains limited (Popova and Otrachshenko 2026).

Figure 1. Labor force participation and unemployment rates in Uzbekistan

Source: Compiled from Popova and Otrachshenko (2026), synthesizing ILO and World Bank data. Notes: Female labor force participation is defined as the share of the working-age women (ages 15-64) who are economically active (employed or unemployed). Employment includes salaried work, business activities, self-employment, and the production of goods for own use (subsistence farming). Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment.

Popova and Otrachshenko (2026) identify several barriers to women’s empowerment in Uzbekistan. Addressing these structural barriers is instrumental for sustainable economic development in the country. First, the transition to a market economy has disproportionately affected women, whose unemployment rate has doubled (Figure 1). This is mainly because women’s employment remains concentrated in the service (57.7%) and agriculture (27%) sectors, which are frequently characterized by informality, especially in rural areas. Such informality deprives women of social security and stable earnings.

Another specific concern is the high share of young women aged 15-24 who are not in education, employment, or training (NEET). In Uzbekistan, the female NEET rate is more than twice that of men (19.1% vs. 8.5% as of 2025). As noted by UNDP (2025), high NEET rates are a key indicator of young women’s labor market exclusion and represent a severe loss of national human capital, thereby requiring policy intervention. In addition, women currently account for only about one-third of graduates from tertiary education programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM), fields that are becoming increasingly remunerative globally. Improving women’s access to STEM careers and increasing the attractiveness of STEM fields to female students through early education, coding instruction, and digital skills training may therefore help diversify the employment structure, boost innovation, and advance women’s empowerment in the labor market. At the same time, Uzbekistan has a fertility rate of 3.5 births per woman, the highest in the post-Soviet space. It is thus important to recognize that expanding childcare infrastructure can transform demographic trends into a unique opportunity for greater economic participation by enabling more women to enter and remain in the workforce while also helping to develop the country’s future labor force.

Policy insights

Promoting women’s entrepreneurship and access to finance. Despite the growing number of women-owned businesses, women often face barriers to accessing credit, collateral, and business networks. Targeted microfinance, credit guarantees, and training programs to strengthen business management skills—especially in rural areas—can build on existing forms of informal economic participation and facilitate women’s transition into more productive formal sector activities.
Investing in girls’ and women’s STEM and vocational education. Educational attainment among women is relatively high in Uzbekistan, but occupational segregation remains strong. Encouraging women’s entry into high-demand sectors, such as technology, engineering, and green-economy jobs, can improve earning opportunities while contributing to economic diversification.
Expanding access to quality childcare and early childhood education. Many constraints on women’s labor force participation stem from unpaid care responsibilities. Uzbekistan inherited a relatively high level of female labor force participation from the Soviet period, but this has declined in part due to caregiving burdens. Affordable and reliable childcare services can enable women to enter, remain in, and return to the workforce while also supporting child development.

Formalizing and protecting women’s employment in informal and agricultural sectors. A large share of women work in the informal sector or in agriculture without adequate social protections. Extending labor rights, further formalizing small businesses, expanding social insurance coverage, and strengthening land-use rights can strengthen income security and enhance resilience.
Promoting digital and financial inclusion. Expanding women’s access to digital technologies and improving financial and digital literacy can facilitate participation in e-commerce, remote work, and online learning opportunities. Such measures can help reduce rural-urban disparities while supporting entrepreneurship and small-business development.

References

Duflo, E. (2012). Women Empowerment and Economic Development. Journal of Economic Literature, 50(4), 1051–1079. https://doi.org/10.1257/jel.50.4.1051

ILO (2021). Women and the World of Work in Uzbekistan. Towards Gender Equality and Decent Work for All. International Labor Organization. Available at: https://www.ilo.org/publications/women-and-world-work-uzbekistan-towards-gender-equality-and-decent-work-all (last accessed April 4, 2026)

Kabeer, N. (1999). Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women’s Empowerment. Development and Change, 30(3), 435–464. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-7660.00125

Popova, O., & Otrachshenko, V. (2026). Women’s Empowerment in Uzbekistan: Challenges and Opportunities for the Labor Market. Central Asia Program. George Washington University.

Otrachshenko, V., Popova, O., & Alimukhamedova, N. (2024). Rainfall Variability and Labor Allocation in Uzbekistan: The Role of Women’s Empowerment. Post-Soviet Affairs, 40(2), 119–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/1060586X.2024.2309822

UNDP (2025). Women’s Entrepreneurship in Uzbekistan: Assessment and Recommendations. United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). Available at: https://www.undp.org/uzbekistan/publications/womens-entrepreneurship-uzbekistan-assessment-and-recommendations (last accessed April 4, 2026)