Country profile – Latvia. Policies for longer working lives and good practices
This is the fifth in a series of country reports that present an overview of the national policies regarding prolonging working life in the countries involved in the BSLF Sustainable Working Life Project.
Anti-discrimination is not widespread in Latvia, but it is undeniable that employers prefer younger workers, as evidenced by wage trends. The gender pay gap is more pronounced and is increasing every year – if in 2014 the gender pay gap was 17.3%, then in 2020 men earned 22.3% more than women for similar work. Based on employment indicators, 68.6% of the age group 55-64 were employed in 2020. Moreover, this figure has tended to increase, as during the last 10 years the employment rate in this age group has increased by 18.1 percentage points. Employment in the age group 55-64 has continued steadily to increase in recent years, i.e., the increase is not only related to the exit from the 2008-2010 economic crisis. In 2021, a slight decline in the labour participation rate in this age group was discernible.