07.12.2015
Demographic Structure of Local Councils 2015 in Ukraine
Information and Analytical Centre “RATING Pro” has analyzed the composition of local councils formed after the local elections 2015, in terms of gender, age, education, and employment. According to the research, the following conclusions have been made:
- Comparing to the local elections 2010 women’s representation in local councils increased, considerable growth noticed in regional and district councils. The number of female deputies in regional councils increased from 12% to 15%, in city councils – from 28% to 29%, in district councils – from 23% to 24%, in township councils – remained unchanged (46%), in village councils – grew from 51% to 56%. However, remarkably stable is the trend that the higher the level of the council, the fewer women are represented there.
- The regional breakdown also showed some interesting trends. In particular, the farther to the East, the more women are represented in local councils at all levels, especially in the district, township and village councils (the absolute majority of deputies). In terms of women’s representation in councils, the leaders are the following regions: Donetsk, Luhansk, Mykolaiv, Kherson, Chernihiv, Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk, Kharkiv, and Zaporizhzhia. The smallest number of women is represented in the local councils of Transcarpathian, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Rivne, and Lviv Regions. At the same time, Lviv Region provided a relatively high level of women’s representation in regional and city councils, whereas, at the level of district, township and village councils – the region is among obvious outsiders.
- The analysis of list of candidates showed that almost all parties kept within the law of at least one-third women’s representation but it did not allow for the appropriate level of women’s representation among the elected deputies. This is particularly true for the local councils at the higher level. For example, in the lists of candidates for regional councils, the proportion of women amounts to 30%, but the proportion of women among the elected deputies is twice as small as 15%. In the lists of candidates for city councils of regional centers the proportion of women amounts to 33%, but the share of deputies elected among women was only 19%, in the city councils of cities of regional significance – 36% and 26% respectively, in district councils – 36% and 24% respectively. At the level of city councils of district significance, the actual representation of women was equal to 32%.
- Among the parties with 400 and more mandates (on proportional basis), the highest share of women’s representation among the deputies was provided by Opposition bloc (30%) Nash Kray (30%), Vidrodzhennya (28%), and Batkivshchyna (28%). The smallest number of female deputies is represented in Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity" (22%), Hromadianska Pozitsiya (22%), Svoboda (22%), and the Agrarian Party of Ukraine (21%).
- The higher the council, the higher the level of deputies’ education is. 94-95% of the elected to the regional councils, Kyiv city council and city councils of regional centers have higher education. In the councils of regional significance cities the share makes 86%, in the district councils – 81%, in the city councils of district significance cities – 78%, in the township councils – 61%. However, the number of deputies with higher education in the village councils makes only 38%. A half of the deputies to the village councils have either secondary or vocational education. Whereas, in the vast majority of local councils, female deputies have a higher level of education than male deputies do. For example, at the level of regional councils the share of deputies with higher education among women is 98% compared to 95% - among the male deputies; at the level of village councils – 41% compared to 34% respectively. The largest number of deputies with higher education is represented in Samopomich, Nash Kray, and Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity".
- The vast majority (76%) of local deputies have a permanent job, retired – 7%, temporarily unemployed – 17%. The highest number of the unemployed is among the deputies of village councils: without permanent job – every fifth electee, of which every fourth is a male deputy and only every sixth is a female deputy. In the township councils the temporarily unemployed make 12%, in councils of district significance cities – 10%, district councils and the regional significance cities – 8%, regional councils and regional centers councils – 7%. Most employed belong to Petro Poroshenko Bloc "Solidarity", Agrarian Party of Ukraine, and Samopomich; unemployed – to Svoboda, Radical party of Oleg Lyashko, and UKROP, retired – to Opposition Bloc.
- The youngest deputies are represented in the city councils of regional centers - the median age is 41; the oldest members – in regional and district councils – 46 years old. The youngest members of the parties belong to Samopomich, Svoboda, UKROP, and Radical party of Oleg Lyashko. The oldest – to the Agrarian Party of Ukraine, Vidrodzhennya, and Nash Kray.