Estonian Human Development Report

7. International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance
(2008), Databases and Networks: Voter Turnout, http://www.
idea.int/ (1.10.2008)
8. Klingemann, H.-D. (1999). ”Mapping Political support in the
1990s: A Global Analysis”. Norris, P. (ed) (1999) Critical Citizens:
Global Support for Democratic Governance. Oxford:
Oxford University Press.
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and Time Context.” Journal of Communist Studies and Transition
Politics, 18 (2) : pp. 103–125.
10. Norris, P. (ed (1999) Critical Citizens: Global Support for Democratic
Governance. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
11. Office of the Minister of Population and Ethnic Affairs at the
State Chancellery (2008a), data file “Kodakondsuse statistika,”
http://www.rahvastikuminister.ee (1.11.2008).
12. Office of the Minister of Population and Ethnic Affairs at the
State Chancellery (2008b), data from Integration of Estonian
Society: Monitoring 2008 conducted in March–April 2008.
13. Rose, R. (2005). “New Baltic Barometer VI: A Post-Enlargement
Survey” Studies in Public Policy No. 401. Glasgow: Centre for
the Study of Public Policy, University of Strathclyde.
4.5. Non-Estonians in the labour market
The data from Estonian Labour Force Surveys allow for
clear and unequivocal conclusions to be drawn: the transition
experience in the labour market was considerably
more dramatic for non-Estonians than for Estonians. The
risk of unemployment for non-Estonians has consistently
been greater than for Estonians, and their lag in employment
in top positions on the job market has been noticeable
(see Table 4.5.1.). The differences are also significant
in the case of young people.
The economic boom at the beginning of this century
was not accompanied by any significant changes in the
distribution of risks and opportunities. With regard to
the prevention of risks, the economic boom turned out to
be more beneficial for Estonians, with the unemployment
rate for Estonians decreasing faster than for non-Estonians
– the unemployment rate for non-Estonians was 1.6
times higher in 2001, while by 2006 the difference was 2.4
times. In the case of young people (20–34-year-olds), the
Estonians’ advantage tended to increase – the unemployment
rates of young non-Estonians was less than double
that of Estonians in 2001 (17.1% and 11.8% respectively),
while by 2006, it was more than double (10.7% and 4.0%
respectively).
However, the great lead held by Estonians in employment
in top positions in the labour market did decrease
somewhat – less than 30% of Estonians and only 15% of
non-Estonians worked as managers or professionals in
2001, while by 2006 the corresponding indicators were 31%
and 19%, or the difference decreased from 2 times to 1.6
times. Among 20–34-year-olds, the difference decreased
as follows: while 26% of young Estonians and only 10%
of non-Estonians were employed as managers or professionals
in 2001, by 2006, the corresponding ratios were
20% and 17%; in other words, the overrepresentation of
young Estonians in top positions in the labour market had
decreased from 2.6 times to 1.8 times.
Ethnic inequality in the Estonian
labour market and human capital
In Estonia’s public discourse, an individual-centred
approach to understanding the inequalities of the labour
market dominates. Explanations of the different opportunities
of ethnic groups in the labour market are based
on the theory of human capital. One can define a narrower
and broader meaning for human capital. The narrower
meaning primarily includes knowledge, skills and
experience that enable one to successfully cope with work
assignments. In this case, only education and/or area of
job activity (indicator for the nature of the work experience)
and/or age (measure of the duration of the work
experience) are taken into account. There is also a broader
meaning of human capital, which, in addition to education
and job-related skills, also includes language skills
and cultural knowledge. Usually certain human capital is
more useful in one or another social context, and therefore
the human capital necessary in the labour market differs
from country to country. An upheaval in the social
order can be accompanied by changes in the value of certain
aspects of human capital. As a result of the reforms
that took place after the restoration of Estonian independence,
the greatest change occurred in the importance of
Estonian language proficiency as an essential component
of human capital.
Table 4.5.1. The level of unemployment and percentage
of professionals and managers by ethnicity, and
for non-Estonians, by their citizenship and Estonian
language proficiency, average for 2001–2006, %
Unemployment level
Work force
(ages
15–74)
Young people
(ages
15–29)
a
Answers to the questions: (a) What language do you speak at home?
If you use several languages, indicate them all, starting with the most
frequently used. (b) In addition to the language you speak at home, do
you know how to speak some other language or do you understand some
other language within the limits of everyday communications? (c) What other
languages do you know? In addition to the fact that Estonian is spoken
at home, we considered the answer “can speak and write” as an indicator
of good Estonian language skills in the case of question (c).
b
We considered the following answers to indicate poor Estonian language
skills: “can understand within the limits of everyday communications” for
question (c) and not indicating Estonian in the case of question (b).
Source: Estonian Labour Force Surveys 2001–2006.
Percentage of professionals
and managers
Work force
(ages
15–74)
Young people
(ages
20–35)
Estonians 7.8 14.7 11.3 11.1
Non-Estonians 14.6 23.0 7.1 5.9
… with Estonian
citizenship
12.3 17.3 9.8 8.0
…who are stateless 16.8 26.2 4.5 3.4
…with foreign
citizenship
15.8 26.7 5.8 5.7
…good Estonian
language proficiency a 10.0 16.1 11.2 9.0
…poor Estonian
language proficiency b 16.3 25.9 6.5 4.5
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