In Estonia Russian earn less than Estonians due to discrimination

The incomes of Russians in Tallinn are 20 percent and in Estonia on the whole 12% less than of Estonians mostly owing to legalised discrimination. This conclusion has been drawn by sociologists from the Tallinn Polytechnical University during the second monitoring of integration processes in Estonia on the example of the economic status of Estonians and Russians.

Authors of the study say that the employment structure in Estonia has remained inviolable. For instance, non-Estonians are mostly blue and Estonians white collars. Russian workers with higher or average specialised education are numerically more than Estonians and are engaged mostly in industry, transport and communication. True, in the hospitality business and education the share of Estonians and Russians is so far the same. Regrettably, a few Russians are allowed to work in the financial sector.

Over half of Russians are not sure about their work prospects because they more than Estonians feel the threat of unemployment. At the same time, the number of people found below the poverty line is the same among Estonians and Russians.

Authors of the study are sure that this imbalance can be rectified through changes to be made in the sphere of Russian-speaking education, including in the field of unification of training programmes. In their opinion, this will make Russians more competitive on the labour market.