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International Internet Magazine. Baltic States news & analytics Tuesday, 19.03.2024, 08:55

Eurostat: Estonia's gender pay gap widest in EU

BC, Tallinn, 07.03.2018.Print version
The difference between the pay of men and women in Estonia was bigger than in any other member state of the European Union in 2016, while the narrowest gaps were registered in Romania and Italy, it appears from figures published by Eurostat.

The unadjusted gender pay gap stood at just over 16% in the EU as a whole. Across member states, the gender pay gap in 2016 ranged from 5.2% in Romania and 5.3% in Italy to 25.3% in Estonia, followed by the Czech Republic with 21.8% and Germany with 21.5%.


Compared with 2011, the gender pay gap has dropped in most of the EU member states. The most noticeable decreases between 2011 and 2016 were recorded in Romania, - 4.4 percentage points (pp), Hungary, - 4.0 pp, Spain and Austria, both -3.4 pp, Belgium, -3.3 pp, and the Netherlands, -3.0 pp.


In contrast, the gender pay gap has risen between 2011 and 2016 in ten member states, with the most significant increases observed in Portugal, +4.6 pp, and Slovenia, +4.5 pp. At EU level, the gender pay gap has decreased slightly, by 0.6 pp, from 16.8% in 2011 to 16.2% in 2016.


Statistics Estonia and Eurostat use different methodologies for calculating the gender pay gap. In Eurostat statistics on the pay difference companies and institutions with fewer than ten employees are not included, just like agriculture, forestry, fishery, public administration and national defense.


Statistics Estonia, on the other hand, uses data for all companies and institutions, as well as all sectors.


According to Statistics Estonia, the gender pay gap in Estonia in 2016 was 20.9%.

Eurostat uses the same methodology in analyzing data for all countries and thereby ensures comparability. The data of Statistics Estonia meanwhile takes the context of Estonia more into account, spokespeople for the Ministry of Social Affairs said.


The gender pay gap in unadjusted form represents the difference between average gross hourly earnings of male paid employees and of female paid employees as a percentage of average gross hourly earnings of male paid employees. The indicator has been defined as unadjusted, or not adjusted according to individual characteristics that may explain part of the earnings difference, such as workload, profession and similar, because it should give an overall picture of gender inequalities in terms of pay.  

 






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