Working Life Barometer in the Baltic Countries 2002 (pdf) - mol.fi

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erably during the three-year period, since the salary gap between the genders
has narrowed in the public and widened in the private sector. Also the new, the
reorganised and the old workplaces differ clearly from each other. Only at the
old and the reorganised workplaces has the trend been favourable.
There is still a clear gap between men's and women's real salaries in Latvia. In
January 2002, expressed in terms of 1998 prices, the women's net salaries
were 37 latis lower than the men's measured by the medians, and 40 latis
lower according to the mean value. The corresponding differences three years
earlier were 30 latis (median) and 44 latis (mean).
WOMEN'S AND MEN'S NET SALARIES 1998 AND 2002
Deflated to 1998 price level using consumer price index (lat/month)
MEN
WOMEN
1998 2002
Change
(latis)
Change
(%)
Median 100 lat 112 +12 lat +12.0
Mean 126 lat 135 lat +9 lat +7.1
Median 70 lat 75 lat +5 lat +7.1
Mean 82 lat 95 lat +13 lat +15.9
In Latvia, the salary differences between the genders have changed in a
somewhat different way in various income groups. The differences have become
smaller in the second and especially in the third and fourth deciles. In
the fifth decile, by contrast, the difference has definitely grown. However, the
salaries of women more highly paid than this have very clearly increased more
than those of the men. This evens out the salary differences between the genders.
Roughly speaking, the gaps in salary between men and women in Latvia
have become narrower for both the low-paid and the highly paid. In the middle-income
group, the situation has been the opposite. If, instead of percentages,
one speaks of amounts of money, then it can be said that the rise in the
average salary of well-paid Latvian women has been very marked. The low
inflation has preserved also the purchasing power of the nominal pay rises.