1. GENDER WAGE GAP IN ESTONIA May 13, 2011 Sten Anspal

2. Research questions Why is gender wage gap so high in Estonia? What could be done to reduce it?

3. Stages of the research project Review of theoretical and empirical literature Gender wage gap in Estonia –Analysis of Labor Force Survey data from 2000-2008 –Case studies in organizations: the role of personnel practices in development of the gender wage gap Policy recommendations

4. Gender pay gap, EU-27 (2007) Source: Eurostat

5. Gender pay gap in Estonia, 1993-2009 Source: Estonian Labour Force Survey 2000-2009

6. Which factors explain the gender wage gap? Factors that may lead to different average wages for men and women: - Occupation - Industry - Level of education - Field of education - Working time 28.7%

7. Women work more than men in lower paying occupations MenWomen Wage level (average=100) Managers and senior officials15.9%8.9%163 Professionals9.0%18.9%119 Associate professionals7.9%18.2%101 Clerks2.7%7.2%87 Service and sales workers5.2%19.0%69 Skilled agricultural and fishery workers3.1%2.0%75 Craft and related trade workers27.6%4.2%110 Plant and machine operators19.7%8.4%97 Elementary occupations8.8%13.2%60 Total100%

8. Women work more than men in industries that pay lower wages MenWomen Wage level (average=100) Agriculture and forestry10.45.4 81 Fishing0.90.2 86 Mining and quarrying1.70.3 99 Manufacturing24.220.3 97 Electricity, gas and water supply2.70.9 105 Construction16.71.5 139 Wholesale and retail trade9.815.6 95 Hotels and restaurants1.14.2 74 Transport, storage and communication11.65.3 118 Financial intermediation0.51.7 155 Real estate, renting and business activities6.35.7 102 Public administration and defence6.16.9 114 Education3.516.2 86 Health and social work1.59.8 83 Total100

9. Women’s level of education is on average higher than men’s MenWomen Wage level (average=100) Primary education 29.925.8 78 Secondary education 58 93 Tertiary education 12.116.2 139 Total 100

10. Women’s lower wages are not due to their choice of field of education Share of women Wage level (average=100) Mathematics, statistics and computer science60%148 Life and physical sciences58%136 Social sciences, business and law85%111 Engineering, manufacturing and construction30%110 Humanities and arts72%110 Health and welfare93%103 Services45%101 Teacher training and education science91%97 Agriculture and veterinary48%89 General programmes53%89

11. Wage gap is greatest at ages of childbearing and rearing

12. Greater part of wage gap unexplained Factors that may lead to different average wages for men and women: - Occupation - Industry - Level of education - Field of education - Working time -Insufficiently detailed statistical data? -Unmeasured factors (personality, discrimination)? 28.7%

13. Gender wage gap existed in all organisations studied  One reason: women and men working in different occupations  However, there were also cases of men and women receiving unequal pay for same work  Personnel practices:  Bonus for men to compensate for working with women  “Men’s” jobs considered unsuitable for women when hiring  Compensation for use of personal car vs use of company car

14. Thank you! The Estonian Centre for Applied Research (CENTAR)