Analytics, Estonia, EU – Baltic States, Society, Wages
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Thursday, 25.04.2024, 01:40
Eurostat: Estonia's gender pay gap widest in EU
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.