That is somewhere really true, unfortunately. But how about women in Russia, maybe even better not to talk about it. How about foreign lower educated woman in Russia? Russia has many deep problems in own country as well, even worse than in Estonia. And it is always been like that. Foreign person in another country is listed below average level on salary if not talking about very specified professional. In Russia, in Estonia, everywhere.

RT: "There also appears to be an ethnic dimension, with Estonia's large Russian minority receiving lower pay than their Estonian counterparts. And ethnic Russian women come out bottom of the list." Probably quite true for majority of Russian women. The Russian women are happy to get any jobs in Estonia. Many of them work at neighborhood kiosks and bazaars as vendors whose low "wages" are probably not even counted in the official statistics. However, those Russian women who are educated, speak Estonian and another languages, earn the same or even more than their Estonian counterparts. The two large Tallinn department stores Kaubamaja and Stockmanns employ attractive young ladies who wear name tags which also identify the languages they speak. These name tags clearly identify the nationality of the young ladies and their language skills. Many of them speak Estonian, Russian, Finnish and English. I doubt there is any wage discrimination among these employees based on ethnicity - the same is true for the employee of big hotels, banks, international firms and government positions. Estonia values educated and talented female employees whether they are Estonians or Russians. The one area of female employment where discrimination exists is age. When a woman reaches the age of 40 in Estonia, she is most likely considered "old" and not desirable for employment in positions reserved for young and attractive. There are of course exceptions, but then an "old" female employee has to be someone special. Older women in Estonia, be they Russian or Estonian, generally have difficulty finding work that pays well. Again, this is more acute for the Russians who have not assimilated into the Estonian society.

the older generation of estonian women need to be dragged kicking and screaming into the new millenium. Their stoic outlook on their progress is negating the true power they have demonstrated through history. It's time to take the reins, ladies and demand the powers that be to either lead, follow, or get out of the way. There's an old equal rights saying from the 70's that states, "a woman needs a man like a fish needs a bicycle".

I agree that Estonia needs to progress in gender parity wages. Articles in the Estonian press have commented on this for some time already, and it didn’t need an EU study to bring this to Estonians’ attention. However, EU prodding is helpful to encourage action to be taken to remedy the situation – which is yet another example of how EU membership benefits Estonia. I disagree with the spin that RT predictably puts on the story, though, as if Russian women are subject to particular discrimination because they are Russian. This is not true. While there are many highly educated people of Russian origin holding high positions of employment in Estonia, many Russians are unskilled workers simply because they have chosen not to take advantage of education opportunities, and their wages would reflect their lack of qualifications. On my last visit to Estonia I approached a restaurant when I noticed a woman cleaning the floor just outside its front door. I asked if the restaurant was open or when it might open, and I got an absolutely blank look in response, together with some muttered words in Russian which I could not understand. The woman was fairly young and did not look unintelligent, but she apparently never bothered to learn the language of the country in which she was pleased to live. I don’t think she can blame anyone other than herself if she finds herself in menial work. Apart from the acknowledged gender gap, the employment status of people in Estonia, whether Estonians, Russians, English or Sudanese is based on job qualifications, not on ethnicity. I would love to see RT present an article on the employment prospects of people in Russia who speak no Russian and who have minimal or no qualifications, and point out to us how this differs from a similar category of people in Estonia. But please, don’t hold your breath waiting for such an article, because the name of the game seems to be to knock Estonia.

Marzipan6: "I got an absolutely blank look in response, together with some muttered words in Russian which I could not understand. " You should visit Narva. There the Russians will try to speak Estonian with you even if they know a few words. One time I was looking for an antique store in Narva and asked a policeman for directions. He was of Russian background and must have been taking Estonian lessons because his knowledge of Estonian was very rudimentary, but he was struggling to give me directions in Estonian. I switched to Russian, but to his credit he struggled to speak Estonian with me. Eventually, we decided to converse in Russian. I complimented him on his effort. I have seen similar efforts to speak Estonian by several Russians I met in Narva, especially among the younger generations. Of course, there are Russian residents of Narva who can barely understand "tere" (hello). Nothing wrong with RT bringing attention to Estonia. If the staff at RT has a lapse of good judgement about Estonia, you are there to straighten them out.

Kihnu, You said that "when a woman reaches the age of 40 in Estonia, she is most likely considered "old" and not desirable for employment". I think, that Estonia has progress with this matter, because, in Russia this "threshold" age is 35. And it is applicable not only to women, but for men as well. By the way, that was one of the reasons I left Russia. I was 36, when I suddenly realized that this was the "end of the road for me" -- "too old" to keep dreaming about big things and try to change something. In the US you feel relatively young, at least, until 50. Actually, as the generation of "baby boomers" getting older, this "active age" it moving even higher. Probably, to 55-60. I think, it mostly has to do with the attitude of people themselves, rather than the real capabilities of the "old" people. I strongly believe, that was the primary reason why today Russia is on the knees technologically -- the lack of "old" guys" who used to drive the Soviet high-tech. No wonder that Medvedev went to the US in his attempt to convince the "old" Russians to return back. Right move, though. And, I agree with Marzipan6. Russia, itself, has terrible problem with the "early aging". Probably, one of the worst in the world. Yet, it chooses to point out to somebody else.

Thank you for your words of encouragement, Kihnu, but I’m not altogether sure how much rejoicing the arrival of yet another of my posts occasions amongst RT staff. But seriously, I do try to provide factual balance to articles appearing in RT that relate to the Baltics, because it is often really needed. Your comments about Narva remind me of an episode that is both humorous and praiseworthy that I encountered in a Tallinn hotel a couple of years ago. I wanted to send some of my clothes to the laundry, but somehow I had managed to misplace the laundry list that was provided in the room, and couldn’t find it. So I went to the desk downstairs and attempted to get a new laundry list. A young Russian man in his 20s was manning the desk who could speak passable Estonian, but he simply didn’t know what the Estonian term for a laundry list meant, nor could he speak any English. After trying for some time to help him understand, he reluctantly called the manager, who was an Estonian lady. I praised the young man to her and explained he had been very helpful, but that he just didn’t understand what a “laundry list” was. However, the young man knew enough Estonian to know exactly what I was saying, and at that point he interrupted and very proudly said, “Mjiina räägin Jeesti kjeelt vjääga hjäästi” (“I speak Estonian very well”, Russian accent supplied). I find a lot of Russians trying really hard to communicate in Estonian, and I can only praise them for this. It is an attitude that is streets ahead of the Soviet-era mind-set that seems to predominate in parts of the Kremlin and in Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and that finds frequent expression amongst Russian officialdom in bitter criticism of Estonia’s effort to educate all its people to be able to communicate in the language of the land.