Latvian women work harder, get paid less

Women's economic activity rate in Latvia is 4.9 percentage points higher than the average women's level of economic activity in the EU, the Central Statistical Bureau said, citing Eurostat data.

In Latvia in 2015 63.2% of women were conomically active, while the EU average was 58.3%. The proportion of economically inactive women in Latvian was lower than the EU average (in 2015, respectively 36.8% in Latvia and 41.7% in the EU).

In 2015 10.8% of employed Latvian women worked part-time, but in the EU as a whole the proportion of women was three times higher - 32.6%.

Latvian women on average worked 4.5 hours more per week than women on average in the EU (37.4 hours against, 32.9 hours), while the men worked slightly less; 39.2 hours in Latvia compared to the EU average of 39.4 hours).

In both Latvia and the EU, it appears that certain types of professions and sectors are dominated by persons of one sex.

Latvia has a high proportion of women in education, health and social care, whereas construction is dominated by men. 

As with other EU countries, women on average earn less than men. In 2015, women's average gross monthly wage was 16.2% lower than men's.

In related news, the Riga-based NATO Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence (STRATCOMCOE) was tweeting Tiesday about an online course the alliance is providing geared towards gender equality.