MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? - Tartu Ülikool

TÖÖ- JA PEREELU ÜHITAMINE RECONCILING WORK AND FAMILY LIFE
In 2010, 11% of employees had worked from home and 8% had been engaged in remote working
during the previous four weeks.
The earlier results obtained for Europe, incl. for Estonia, concerning the higher share of men
among remote workers, were confirmed also in 2010, although the differences between men and
women were not significant. 9% of men and 6% of women reported remote working during the
previous four weeks. However, the share of women who had worked from home during the
previous four weeks was higher by one per cent as compared to that of men. One might still
assume that slightly more than one tenth of employees have used both working from home and
remote working during the year. (Figure 8)
Based on the data reported by Antila et al. (2003), it might be assumed that the position or
occupation is important among the factors affecting remote working also in Estonia. Occupation
was almost the most important factor influencing remote working in Estonia in case of both men
and women; the factor was even more significant for women. In other words, remote working is
most likely preferred by managers and professionals and also by clerks and associate
professionals. Skilled workers and operators can very rarely be seen being engaged in remote
working. The results reveal the differences between occupations and professions, e.g. that
successful managing of a team via contemporary means of communication can be performed out
of the office but it is difficult to imagine working on a machine-tool in a manufacturing plant from a
distance. Having little children up to two years of age in the household affected the use of remote
working differently in case of men and women. Mothers of older children were significantly less
engaged in remote working compared to those of younger children. As for men, the age of
children in a household had no impact on their engagement in remote working. Men and women
with the third level of education were more likely to use remote working as compared to the
persons with the first level of education. (Table 5)
Summary
The amount of income from employment is, inter alia, related to how well employees can present
their skills and knowledge to employers. Professional level is reached by developing one’s skills
on a constant basis, one of the preconditions of which is being active in the labour market.
Constant participation in the labour market creates better career making opportunities and,
consequently higher wages. Rõõm et al. (2011) have highlighted a continuous gap in the wages
of men and women and that the gap results, in part, from the factors related to family and raising
of children. This analysis has presented a thorough explanation of these factors. In other words,
the analysis has shown how families organise caring for children and how men and women
combine working with their family life.
Irrespective of the age of children, mostly women take care of children. However, the age of
children and existing supporting structures such as an opportunity to take a child to a
kindergarten or crèche are important factors. Childcare services are quite good and they are
widely used for children 3–6 years of age. Lack of suitable childcare services for younger children
often hinders a return to the labour market. As the proportion of men taking parental leave is
marginal, it is justified to analyse only the return of women to the labour market and the related
problems.
However, a majority of women do not experience such problems which would hinder their return
to employment as over 70% of women whose household includes children aged 3–6 were
employed in the labour market in 2010.
Starting to work means increasing needs for reconciling work and family life and, consequently,
for flexible organisation of work. One of the main forms of flexible working time organisation is
part-time work that is not widely used in Estonia. Women still use part-time working much more
than men and the difference is the highest for households with children up to two years of age.
For men the reason to work part-time in order to be able to take care of children is extremely rare
irrespective of the age of children in the household. More than a half of women (54%) with a child
MEHE KODU ON MAAILM, NAISE MAAILM ON KODU? MAN’S HOME IS THE WORLD, WOMAN’S WORLD IS HER HOME? 81