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and explanations of the extent of inequality indicated by<br />

various surveys allude to the importance of subjective<br />

assessments and perceptions, and its significance for<br />

Estonia has also been shown (Lindemann 2011.<br />

Below, we examine how the populations assess<br />

the level of inequality that exists in reality. These<br />

assessments originate from a survey (ISSP Research<br />

Group 2013) conducted between 2009 and 2010 in 40<br />

states. The respondents were asked whether they agree<br />

with several statements, which included: “Differences<br />

in income [in our country] are too large”. The respondents<br />

could choose between four possible answers: 1<br />

– strongly agree, 2 – agree, 3 – neither agree nor disagree,<br />

4 – disagree, 5 – strongly disagree. The answer<br />

“can’t choose” was also possible. The following diagram<br />

includes only the data from the respondents who chose<br />

“strongly agree”. It turns out that two-thirds of Estonia’s<br />

population considered the income differences to be too<br />

large, which in the comparison of states is a remarkably<br />

high indicator. Of the post-Communist states, an<br />

even more critical attitude than Estonia’s was found<br />

in Hungary, Ukraine, and also East Germany. (Since<br />

it was an opinion poll, it was considered important to<br />

differentiate the data for the states that had belonged<br />

to the Eastern bloc, i.e. for East Germany and West<br />

Germany separately). The dissatisfaction indicator in<br />

West Germany is considerably lower (less than 50%),<br />

which indicates how the previous social experience has<br />

affected the perception of inequality.<br />

It should definitely be taken into consideration<br />

that the survey was conducted at the same time that<br />

the economic crisis occurred, which may have caused<br />

the assessments of the respondents to be more negative.<br />

However, in 1999, the same survey was carried out in<br />

26 states, and based thereon, it can be said that the economic<br />

crisis was not the most important factor shaping<br />

the attitudes of the respondents. Namely, it turns out<br />

that, in some of the states, the opinions were considerably<br />

more negative than ten years earlier (e.g. Bulgaria,<br />

Slovakia, Czech Republic, Russia and also Norway);<br />

however, in others, it was considerably more positive<br />

(e.g. East and West Germany, Hungary, Poland, Cyprus,<br />

and France). The attitudes were stable in Iceland, Sweden,<br />

and England. Therefore, it can be concluded that<br />

the impact of the global economic crisis is reduced by<br />

the developments in the specific state, for example, the<br />

inequality within the state.<br />

One can surmise that, behind these negative assessments<br />

are people’s good opportunities for comparing<br />

themselves with other states, and they choose to compare<br />

themselves with the more successful ones. It also seems<br />

that in the states with smaller differences in income, there<br />

are few people who assess inequality to be extremely<br />

large. The exceptions are New Zealand, the U.S. and<br />

Great Britain, where the differences in income are quite<br />

large, but few people consider them to be too large. All<br />

three of these countries represent the liberal welfare<br />

model, where greater emphasis is placed on the equality<br />

of opportunities, rather than on results, and therefore, the<br />

public tolerates greater inequality.<br />

At this point, we should ask, if the equalisation<br />

of incomes in Estonia is too slow? Sometimes, this is<br />

Figure 3.2.4<br />

Changes in the Gini Index during the 1990s and 2000s<br />

Changes that took place during the economic crisis<br />

in the second half of the 2000s<br />

Development from the 1990s to the mid-2000s<br />

% of Gini value<br />

Poland<br />

Estonia<br />

Norway<br />

Portugal<br />

Ireland<br />

Hungary<br />

Turkey<br />

Czech Republic<br />

Belgium<br />

Italy<br />

Slovenia<br />

Greece<br />

Slovakia<br />

Finland<br />

Israel<br />

Chile<br />

Austria<br />

New Zealand<br />

USA<br />

Spain<br />

Mexico<br />

France<br />

Canada<br />

Japan<br />

South Korea<br />

Netherlands<br />

Germany<br />

Great Britain<br />

Denmark<br />

Australia<br />

Switzerland<br />

Sweden<br />

Luxembourg<br />

Iceland<br />

% of Gini value<br />

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15<br />

-25 -20 -15 -10 -5 0 5 10 15<br />

Source: OECD database (OECD 2012b), author’s calculations.<br />

Estonian Human Development Report 2012/2013<br />

117

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