Author(s) :

Victor Stanoev.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

This article argues that the gender pay gap (GPG) in Bulgaria is driven primarily by structural and institutional factors rather than individual-level choices. Drawing on descriptive statistical evidence, it contends that weak enforcement, limited political representation of women, legislative shortcomings, and gendered barriers in entrepreneurship collectively sustain the gap. The analysis highlights that women’s underrepresentation in Parliament, where they occupy only about one quarter of seats and where no gender-quota mechanisms exist, reduces the likelihood of advancing equal-pay legislation, childcare reforms, and pay-transparency measures. At the same time, men’s greater access to high-risk, high-reward entrepreneurial opportunities, supported by more favorable lending conditions and more forgiving second-chance rules, may result in income distributions that disproportionately benefit men. These structural dynamics, taken together, help explain why Bulgaria continues to display one of the wider gender pay gaps in the European Union despite formal legal protections. The article concludes by outlining policy implications related to institutional enforcement, political representation, pay transparency, and support for women-led enterprises, and calls for future empirical research to more precisely quantify each mechanism’s contribution to Bulgaria’s GPG.