Promoting gender equality has been a long-standing process in Estonia. The prevailing opinion is that the topic is mainly related to women’s rights and men are not related to the problem. Therefore, this study looks at men’s role in gender equality and the present situation, background, policies and public opinion.

In Estonia, the main household chores are still mainly attended by women who spend considerably more time on different household related activities. According to the studies, men contribute to household chores two times less than women. Even though, one-third agree that women are better at household activites, approximately half think that men would be as capable as women.

„There is strong gender segregation in the Estonian job market compared to the rest of the Europe and there are no signs that differentiation is going to take place“ – Marre Karu

The biggest difference starts already from the moment of obtaining education as one gender is prevailing with learning certain specialties. Therefore, men are often seen as better directors and this may be the reason why women’s salary is smaller. The problem is apparent in many other areas. For example, politics in Estonia is mainly a man’s world as most of the parliament consists of men.

One of the main conclusions of the study is the message that men need gender equality and that gender equality needs men, as there cannot be full gender equality without the commitment of both genders.

Based on the main results of this study, recommendations for initiatives and strategies for policy makers and other stakeholders at EU level and national level have been developed in order to outline the role of men in improving gender equality across Europe. From an overall perspective it is visible that men have become more interested in gender equality and that the role of men in gender equality has increasingly been taken into account by policies across Europe in the past decade.

See also

Gender Equality Act

About gender equality on the web-page of the Estonian Ministry of Social Affairs