By its very nature, the gender pay gap means that an employer pays me - usually a woman - less money on average than a man doing the same job. This is a problem because, after years of earning lower wages, I have less to consume on a daily basis, I receive lower parental benefits and my welfare in retirement is lower. And this in a situation where I am likely to live longer than my partner.
As a woman born in Estonia, I was given the social gauntlet of a pay gap that has been an invisible companion throughout my adult life, affecting both my economic independence and my emotional well-being. I am not happy about this. If I could, I'd have given that brat back his "gift" as an infant.
As stated above, the gender gap in Estonia is a woman's face and an act. So much so that, for years, among the 27 Member States of the European Union, we have perceived the greatest, most flagrant injustice on a daily basis, and looked up, with our heads held high. To where the other 26 countries are. True, only Luxembourg has been consistently in the green zone, according to Eurostat, with a gender pay gap of - 0.9% in 2023. In the same year, Estonia's gender pay gap made a welcome fall to 16.9%, still almost 5% below the EU average. These data speak beyond rational, present-tense justifications of patriarchal social organisation, the devaluation of women and cultural patterns of behaviour that shape the roles of women and men from the ground up.
Home education pushes women into low-paid jobs
From childhood, girls in Estonia are brought up to be modest, humble and caring for others. Boys are still encouraged to take part in technical circles and girls are encouraged to try out recipes in the kitchen. Boys go on to become engineers and earn above-average wages, while girls become bread movers and receive a monthly salary below the national average. Let us call these choices, however, simply culturally oriented and not personally considered. For the wage gap between the engineering and cook professions is what we see when we open the pay slip of the Statistical Office. There we see that in the third quarter of 2024, male chefs earned on average €294, or 16.2% more than women, and male production engineers €620, or 28% more than the opposite sex. This is what the pay gap is all about - same job, different sex and devaluation of women's contribution.
Closing the pay gap requires moving to the grassroots level - home, nursery and school - because through home upbringing, the education system and societal expectations, women are often pushed, unnoticed even by themselves, into low-paid jobs such as caring, teaching or service. At the same time, men continue to be encouraged to opt for technical, managerial and entrepreneurial careers, which pay higher wages than these sectors.
However, the predominance of men in leadership positions and politics means that important decisions are gender-biased, again limiting women's opportunities. Thus, according to Statistics Estonia, the perception of deprivation in single-parent households increased by as much as 34% in 2024. As the majority of lone parents are women, they feel that they cannot afford many of the benefits that are normal in society and that they are treated unfairly. Thus, the gender pay gap exacerbates and recreates social and economic inequalities at multiple levels.
One way to reduce the pay gap is to make pay public
Almost two years ago, a directive was adopted by the European Parliament with the aim of ensuring pay transparency and equal pay for equal work for men and women. The legislation affects all employees and job applicants in Estonia, as well as private and public sector employers.
Under the legislation, a person has the right to know the minimum wage or the range of minimum wages set for the job at the time of applying for the job. If the company has a collective agreement with a trade union, the employer must also inform the applicant of this during the recruitment process. The pay scale must be disclosed, for example, in a job advertisement or by other means no later than the interview. At the same time, the employer must not ask the person how much they were paid in previous jobs.
An employed worker has the right to know how his or her pay is calculated, the conditions under which it is increased and the pay range, including by gender, of other workers in the same job in the company. In simple terms, the employer must set up an objective and gender-neutral pay system and make it known to employees. If there is a trade union in the company, employees can also have access to pay data through a steward.
It is a mistake to think that disclosure of wages is only necessary for the state or that the state already has all the information it needs on tax returns. Disclosure of wages paid by a company is important for all employees, especially women. With this information, she can decide whether her contribution and her pay are balanced and fair. In the event of discrimination, she has the right to demand that her employer pay her the same as other workers. If no agreement can be reached, she can take her rights to a labour dispute committee or to court and ask for compensation. This will make pay discrimination riskier and less attractive for employers.
With the Wage Transparency Directive coming into force next year, there is certainly reason to wonder whether it will actually start to reduce the pay gap. Obviously, closing the gender pay gap does not depend on a single piece of legislation. It is not only a question of changing social attitudes, but also of teaching children from an early age that boys and girls are equally capable and deserve to make gender-neutral choices about hobbies, studies and careers. Without limiting their dreams or relegating them to traditional 'male' and 'female' occupations.
Photo: Evelin Tomson
