Gender equality: social security
Gender equality may be achieved by incorporating it into all areas of life, including in ways how families are built and family duties divided that influences opportunities to integrate into the labour market and size of various benefits received. National policies and European directives also should facilitate equality by working out mechanisms reducing social inequality and poverty risks.
Marriages
At the beginning of 2023, 38.6 % or 336.8 thousand men and 34.1 % or 344.3 thousand women were married. The average age of males at first marriage accounted for 33.4 years and of females for 31.3 years; the indicator has risen by more than four years since 2010. In 2022, 32.3 % of males and 33.0 % of females concluded marriage repeatedly.
The number of marriages concluded in younger age groups is declining every year. Out of all marriages concluded in 2022, 5.7 % of males and 11.9 % of females were aged 24 and younger (16.4 % and 28.8 % in 2010; 30.5 % and 44.9 % in 2000, respectively).
Families having children
At the beginning of 2023, there were 117.8 thousand single-parent families1 in Latvia with at least one minor child. Of them, 98.5 thousand or 83.6 % - single mother families.
However, unequal distribution of household duties may be observed also in other families.
When asked about frequency of doing housework (cooking and/or housekeeping), 93 % of Latvian women and 75 % of men indicated that do it at least several times a week.
Latvian legislation provides both mother and father for receiving birth allowance and paid leave after childbirth. As the birth rate decreased, the number of parents who were granted maternity and paternity benefits due to the birth of a child decreased in 2022. Compared to 2016 (when the highest number of granted maternity and paternity benefits was reached), the number of recipients of maternity benefits decreased by 23.4 %, while the number of recipients of paternity benefits decreased by 18.7 %.
In 2022, the number of paid maternity benefit days reached 1563.2 thousand days and the amount of paid maternity allowance was 35.57 euros per day on average (in 2021 – 32 euros), while the number of paid days of paternity allowance was 89.4 thousand days and the average amount of allowance per day is 44.90 euros (in 2021 – 41.21 euros).
Long-term childcare leave and frequent incapacity for work lead to regular breaks in being on the labour market, which challenges the competitive ability and professional development. Childcare benefit for a child aged 1.5–2 years more often is received by females – 84.1 % of women and 15.9 % of men in 2022.
Both - employed (employees or self-employed) and unemployed parents (not a socially insured person) are entitled to childcare benefits. In 2022, 39.0 thousand people received childcare benefit for a child under 1.5 years of age, 5.3 thousand of them, were not socially insured and were granted only childcare benefit because they were not entitled to parental benefit2. Compared to 2016, the number of parents who are not socially insured is decreasing: from 19.2 % in 2016 to 13.6 % of parents in 2022. Females are more likely to receive childcare benefits for children under 1.5 years of age from parents who were not socially insured: in 2022, 93.0 % of the recipients were women and only 7.0 % were men.
Although the total number of fathers going on leave after receiving parental benefit for childcare (parental childcare benefit for a child up to 1 year of age and 1.5 years of age) has decreased in 2022, there is an increase in the percentage of fathers receiving parental childcare benefit for child up to 1 year of age (in 2021 – 42.2 % males; in 2022 – 42.6 % males). The proportionally largest number of fathers receiving parental benefit was in 2016, when 20 % of men received the benefit (in 2022 – 16.7 % of men).
Regardless of the fact that in case of child’s sickness the number of fathers staying at home due to this reason has gone up over the past five years, mothers still apply for the sick leave certificate B more often. In 20223, 68.1. % of females and 31.9 % of males received a benefit for nursing an ill child.
Trusteeship for persons with limited capacity to act
Persons with mental or other health problems whose capacity to act has been restricted by a court as well as persons whose capacity to act has been restricted due to careless or wasteful life, excessive use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances and other reasons4 are placed under trusteeship. Since 2013, the number of persons under trusteeship has increased by 23 %, reaching 3 641 persons at the end of 2022 (2 961 persons in 2013). On the other hand, the number of persons with restricted capacity to act placed under trusteeship during year, has increased by 71 % to 431 persons (in 2013 – 252 persons).
Relatives and spouses are most often appointed as trustees, and when looking at data on trustees by gender, there are significant gender differences between them. At the end of 2022, 2 672 or 83.3 % of total trustees were females and 535 or 16.7 % were males. Also, trustees appointed during the year were mostly females - in 2022, 333 or 82 % of trustees were females and 73 or 18 % were males.
Pensions
Equal pay ensures equal pensions at retirement age, but as there is a gender pay gap, women's and men's pensions are also different: in 2022, the size of pensions paid to men was 11.3 % higher than that paid to women (EUR 481.96 were paid to males and EUR 433.22 to females).
Comparison of the size of granted pensions shows that men more commonly receive up to EUR 300 (17.4 % of males and 11.8 % of females) and pensions exceeding EUR 500 (49.8 % of males and 37.8 % of females), while women more often receive EUR 300–500 (50.4 % of females and 32.8 % of males).
As of 1 January 2019, a new allowance has been introduced for the spouse of the deceased pension recipient in case of death of the pension recipient. In 2022, an average of 6.5 thousand persons per month received allowance for the spouse of a deceased pension recipient (6.4 thousand in 2021). Distribution of allowances by gender were 4.7 thousand or 72.7 % of women and 1.8 thousand or 27.3 % of men (in 2021: 4.7 thousand or 72.6 % of women; 1.8 thousand or 27.4 % of men).
Analysis of the national statutory and actual retirement age shows that both genders prefer to retire earlier. In 2022, when statutory age accounted for 64 years and 3 months, women on average retired at the age of 63.64 while men at the age of 63.71. During the last eleven years, irrespective or the rise in the statutory retirement age of 2 years and 3 months, the actual retirement age has grown.
Just like in Latvia, also in other EU countries (e.g., Lithuania, Bulgaria, the Netherlands) retirement age is growing gradually, and majority of the countries is moving towards common retirement age for both genders.
Retirement age in the EU varies between 60 and 67 years. The highest retirement age is recorded in Sweden, Germany and Greece (all of which have set equal retirement age for both genders). In countries having different retirement age, females usually have a right to retire earlier.
Risk of poverty
Differences in wages and pensions result in females being more at risk of poverty than males. According to EU Statistics on Population Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) survey data in 2021, 25.2 % of females and 19.4 % of males were at risk of poverty. This difference is also caused by the fact that there are significantly more women than men among the elderly population (aged 65 and over). This means that women live longer and are more dependent on an old-age pension, which is lower than wages and lower than men's old-age pensions. Therefore, it is natural that, upon reaching the age of 65, the proportion of women at risk of poverty is significantly higher (45.6 %) than that of men (30.2 %). On the other hand, the proportion of men and women at risk of poverty does not differ significantly between the other age groups.
Gender Equality Index – time
Latvian Gender Equality Index5 calculated by the European Institute for Gender Equality (EIGE) in the domain Time, which measures gender inequalities in allocation of time spent doing care and domestic work and social activities, is assessed with 62.6 points, which is less than the the EU average (68.5), men's involvement in activities evaluated in this dimension in Latvia is lower than the EU average.
Methodological explanations:
1Family nucleus (family) is defined as two or more persons who live in the same dwelling and who are related as husband and wife, as partners in an unregistered cohabitation or as parents and child. Thus, a family consists of a couple without children, a couple with one or more children, or a single parent with one or more children.
2If the parent is a socially insured person (employed), parental benefit and childcare benefit are granted for the care of the same child at the same time.
3If the parent is a socially insured person (working), then parental allowance and child care allowance are granted simultaneously for the care of the same child.
4An Orphan's and Custody Court, in accordance with a court ruling on establishment of trusteeship, shall appoint a trustee: to a person with mental or other health disorders, whose capacity to act has been restricted by the court; to a person upon whom the court has established temporary trusteeship; to a person whose capacity to act has been restricted by the court due to dissolute or spendthrift lifestyle, as well as due to the excessive use of alcohol or other intoxicating substances; to the property of an absent or missing person; for the execution of a will.
5The index rating varies between 1 and 100, where 1 stands for absolute gender inequality and 100 for full gender equality.
Data source
Official statistics portal:
ILV010 Marriages and divorces by age
NNR020 At-risk-of-poverty rate by age and sex
PPP020 Maternity and paternity benefits
PPP040 Average size of old-age and disability pensions paid by sex (euros)
Results of the Survey Social and cultural participation
Eurostat database:
LFST_HHINDWS Total population at risk of poverty
LFST_HHINDWS Households consisting of one adult with children by sex of the adult
Eurofound:
Frequency of caring for and/or educating your children
Frequency of cooking and/or housework