Analytics

In 2014 Estonian women made on average 1.5 euros less in an hour than men. About 50 cents of the difference came from men working in jobs with higher average salaries and around 1 euro came from men earning more in the same professions, Oja writes.

According to Oja the pay gap might be smaller if problems preventing the market from working are eased. For instance, if daycare for children would be more accessible mothers would not have to stay at home for so long before returning to work. "There might be several reasons behind the difference between the salaries of women and men and these might not be connected to discrimination," he writes.

The gender pay gap might also point to customs and laws which do not let salaries to equalize. "If the market is not functioning, the balance on the market is not the best it can be. If market restrictions would be eased, the volume of the economy would increase and the salaries of both women and men would rise," the economist writes.

"To the people who believe that the difference in salaries of employees in a similar position is solely based on discrimination, it can be said that such a thing would be too expensive for employers. If someone wants to hire a man only because of his gender, they would have to pay more due to the pay gap. The price of gender discrimination for an employer is 3,000 euros a year on average because that is the difference between the labor costs of a man and a woman in the same profession," he writes.