Estonia’s wage gap, as well as that in the rest of the EU is being targeted by Brussels but it analysts say the economic crisis, not new policies have narrowed the divide.

TALLINN — Estonia’s gender pay gap, the highest in the European Union according to Eurostat with women earning an average of 30 percent less than men, evened by one-third in 2009.

The changes are from domestic numbers, not Brussels, as Estonia’s Social Insurance Fund data shows that while in 2007 women paid 31 percent less social tax than men but in 2009 the difference was below 20 percent. During the same time period the income of Estonian men decreased and the unemployment rate among men overshot that of women, mostly from the collapse of the construction sector that was hammered by the economic crisis.

According to Estonian Gender Equality and Equal Treatment Commissioner Margit Sarv, the narrowing pay gap is due to the overall decline of salaries and overall economic conditions rather than an advancement of women in the domestic workforce.

“The gap increased during the boom times when salaries went up,” Sarv told Baltic Reports. “Many countries have aspired toward equal payment between men and women for decades. There has been a reduction in the gap but an equal payment level has not been reached.”

Mark Smith, an assistant professor at the Grenoble School of Management and a member of the European Expert Group on Gender and Employment, told Baltic Reports that although a large number of women are in the workforce in Estonia, the job sectors are very segregated by sex.

“Estonia is one of the champions of segregation,” Smith said. “In Estonia you have a relatively high level of employment, that means there’s may women in work and their concentrated in low-pay jobs.”

There’s widespread evidence of this in the workforce.

Raul Eamets, a macroeconomics professor at Tartu University told Äripäev that more women are working in public sector where also smaller wage cuts were made.

“It is logical that the gap reduced but it will take several generations before the gap will completely disappear,” said Eamets.

Väino Talli, CEO of the personal services VMP Group franchise in Estonia told the Äripäev newspaper that if an Estonian employer, typically male, has to choose whether he hires a man or woman with the same job experience as a welder (a high-paying manufacturing job) then he will choose a man.

Estonia’s wage gap, as well as that in the rest of the EU is being targeted by Brussels. The European Commission announced a new strategy to narrow the wage divide in March.

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