The laws of Central Asian states have no regulations that restrict economic rights by gender in any way. Regardless of gender, anyone may freely register as a sole proprietor, open a legal entity for the purpose of manufacture. Nevertheless, female entrepreneurs in all countries of the region are far fewer than male entrepreneurs.

One of weighty factors hindering the effective fulfilment of women's economic potential is the irrational distribution of housework and gender stereotypes in the society. Moreover, a man, usually a father or a husband, controls the property in Central Asian countries. It means lower financial capacities for women from the very beginning.

Moreover, according to experts, women may encounter obstacles within a household. A man may forbid his wife to work, so that the woman could give herself to keep hearth and home together and to raise children.

This is why fewer women than men are employed in the region.

However, if we look at the labour market broken down by gender, the situation does not seem that disastrous. Participation of employed women and men differs slightly.

However, when it comes to labour remuneration, the woman earns nearly 70 cents in average per 1 dollar earned by the man.

One of the reasons for such inequality is that women are traditionally employed in social, low-paid areas of education, medicine, social services. It seems that women can grade up to men's incomes in business. However, it's not that simple. According to the report of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, female entrepreneurs earn less than their male colleagues in Central Asian states. They usually focus on a limited number of activities such as public catering, tailoring, wholesale and retail trade, beauty salons, and food processing, and are behind men in terms of volumes and productivity.

Besides, the roles and contribution of women and men in Central Asian families are not equal. Unpaid house work, childcare, elderly care can become a burden for women.

Usually, men spend more time on their personal development, training, socialisation and communication, reading and watching of TV and the media than women.

The pandemic only worsened the gender inequality. This is the finding of the authors of the OECD report "Gender gaps in Eurasia: The daunting effects of COVID-19". According to it, "in Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, 80% of women reported a rise in household chores following the onset of COVID-19." For many, closed schools and kindergartens, restricted movement has caused reduction in income and increase in general load.