EU FPV Thematic Network: The Social Problem and Societal Problematisation of Men and Masculinities
LATVIA NATIONAL REPORT ON STATISTICAL INFORMATION ON MEN’S PRACTICES WORKPACKAGE 2
Irina Novikova
- The national gender background and context
Statistical studies, surveys and researches in Latvia have been undergoing a transitional period after the restoration of independence in 1991. Sex was an important parameter regularly used in the statistical surveys in the Soviet times, in particular, in the areas of labour market, employment, family and health, demography, ethnodemography, family planning, migration. Soviet policy-makers were sensitive to the results of statistical surveys by sex to politically coordinate the Soviet lip-service “sex equality” and paternalist social and economic measures. At the same time, violence as a gendered social problem was randomized and as such, was not considered as an explicitly serious social issue. The silencing of statistics on violence from Soviet public sphere was inherited by post-Soviet state-building discourse.
The same areas have remained the prerogative targets of statistical surveys and positionalities proposed to the categories “male’ and “female”. Demographic and family policy is central to the processes of postsocialist nation- and state-building, in particular, contextualized within the new ethnic composition of population and entrance into the European Union as a facet of globalization process. Latvia has been undergoing the period of the economic transformation. This ten-year time can be characterized as the period of social, economic and psychological depression that has been overlapping the consequences of the economic stagnation of the former Soviet period. Thus, the major fields of statistical priorities are the demographic situation, the dynamics of fertility and demographic determinants, family policy, actual and desired family models, children’s health, unemployment and changes in the length of working life.
On the other hand, international standards are being introduced, in particular, for publication of The Statistical Yearbook of Latvia and UNDP Human Development Reports. However, the analytical capacity in the current range of statistical surveys is still not able to formulate informed policy recommendations in major spheres of public policy. If there exist independent statistical studies, then an insufficient competence of the specialists involved and ‘local coloring’ of a specific statistical survey does not enable them to draw independent analysis for taking policy decisions or proposing them to policymakers. On the contrary, if a statistical survey is an internal-use material ordered by a governmental agency, it might serve political goals rather than public policy development. For example, naturalization of non-citizens in Latvia is considered an important political issue in the context of the EU accession plan. The results of the statistical surveys of motivations might lead to the conclusion that it is “emotional safety” that is a major motivation for a non-citizen to acquire citizenship rather than “loyalty to the country”. However, the gender-specific statistical data on those having acquired citizenship point to the prevalence of women in acquiring citizenship in Latvia, and this statistical factor explicitly explains the motivation priorities. However, there is also a tendency to instrumentalize high women’s percentage as an indicator of their social activism. Again public opinion holds that young non-citizen men try to avoid army service obligatory for a man citizen of Latvia whereas women hope to provide future political protection to their children and themselves. They might then pretend to find a job in the governmental structures which does not promise a career (an important factor for young men) but provides a stable household income.
Statistical data are gathered mainly around social, demographic, ‘normal family’ issues, and the underlying argument of the biological reproduction of the nation excludes the studies of similar problems at the crossroads of ethnicity, sexuality and gender. Gender ( mainly instead of “sex”) is used in the headings, but “men” is not used as a subcategory of gender analysis but a separate conventional sociological parameter in combination with “women”. It is also noteworthy that gender-specific statistics is absent from studies of educational, political, cultural spheres of the society. Gender and separate men-only statistical methodologies e.g. (manhood and sexuality; urban/rural men and unemployment; men and age; men and ethnicity) are used very rarely as there is no competence of how to employ them in the statistical fieldwork for achieving the expertise level of independent analysis. This also implies the question of whether it is possible to capacitate policy-makers to develop strategic vision and public transparency.
Statistics is mainly focused on the “diadic” analysis, for example, poverty and gender (meaning men/women), poverty and ethnicity in the statistical surveys on poverty in Latvia. However, in poverty studies the “triadic” statistical survey of poverty, gender and ethnicity is a more complex level to reach and a more enriching statistical source for long-term strategic development objectives still to learn. The situation points to the main issues of societal development in the country as “the vast majority of the population are excluded from any policy-making processes, which are instead controlled by a limited group of political parties, governmental institutions and private individuals” (Cit. from: UNDP Latvian Human Development Report 2000 Draft Concept Paper).
The statistical sources have become available in many types of institutions including:
- official (e.g. Latvia Statistical Yearbook, Statistical Yearbook traditionally includes – population by sex; males and females by age group; suicides by age and sex; life expectancy at birth by sex; unemployed persons by sex and age; share of offenders convicted accounted by females)
- governmental (e.g. statistical studies commissioned bt the Ministry of Social Welfare, Ministry of Interior, Department of Immigration and Naturalization and other ministries/departments)
- academic ( e.g. basis of the research projects at the Institute of Demography, Academy of Sciences of Latvia; The Center of Demography, University of Latvia; The Center of Family Planning and Sexual Safety)
- d. non-governmental (e.g. NGO “Papardes Zieds”, The AIDS-Center)
A list of institutions that are involved in collecting gender-specific statistics on a regular and longitudinal basis:
The Center for Demography, University of Latvia
Population Studies Department, Institute of Economics
Latvian Statistical Institute (since 1991). The Institute is involved in the development of statistical information according to international standards, with more accent on statistical reflecting of the Latvian peculiarities, estimation of the representativeness of data, statistical and econometrical analysis of data.
Demographic Statistics Division, Central Statistical Bureau of Latvia
Medical Statistics Bureau, Ministry of Welfare
Institute of Philosophy and Sociology, University of Latvia
Department of Human Geography, University of Latvia
Institute of Cardiology
The School of Public Health, Medical Academy of Latvia
AIDS Prevention Center, Ministry of Welfare
Narcology Center
Republic of Latvia National Committee for UNICEF
Latvian Contraceptology Association
Demographic Commission, Cabinet of Minister, Republic of Latvia
2. HOME AND WORK
Family:
Traditional topics of statistical data by sex:
Registered marriages and divorces
Mixed marriages
Births, deaths and natural growth of population
Suicide deaths by age and sex
Live births by sex
The statistically-based research Development of households and families in Latvia has been conducted in cooperation with specialists of United Nations Economic Commission for Europe.
The change of the political and social system substantially influenced family – marital relations, particularly the characteristics of nuptiality, with an increasing proportion of consensual unions involving no formalities, rapid decrease of the first marriages. Statistics show that at least half of women and men will never marry at the present intensity of contract marriages.
The Latvian Fertility and Family Survey has been conducted since 1994 by the Center of Demography. The fieldwork questionnaire included all basic panels recommended by ECE Population Activities Unit and two of the four recommended optional modules (migration history and population policy acceptance). The main findings were published in a special bulletin “Family and Fertility in Latvia” Riga, 1996, Standard Country Report (Latvian FFS) in English by the ECE in 1998. The gender statistics is used in the project “Development of households and families in Latvia” (since 1997).
Employment:
Unemployment composition by gender and age, male/female structure of labour market are typical areas of statistical surveys.
UNDP Human Development Report provides gender statistics in:
Profile of Human Distress
Female-Male Gaps
Females as Percentage of Males (1995-1999)
Gender is excluded from:
Profile of Human Development
Employment
Unemployment
Poverty and Prosperity
An important statistical source is the publication “Who in Latvia Looks for a Job” (Riga, 1998) that includes such surveys as
Period of Job-Search for Males and Females;
Job-Search in the countryside by sex and education.
Other important statistical sources with information on men:
Labour Force in Latvia (Results of Survey. Statistical Bulletin, 1996). The chapter on economically active population by age, family contains gender statistics
Life Conditions in Latvia. Riga, 1996 (Statistics on age and gender; on age when young people leave their homes and families by age and sex)
3. SOCIAL EXCLUSION
UNDP has organized a series of publications on poverty in Latvia that offers rich statistical data by sex at the crossroads of family, home, un/employment issues.
Examples
From:
WHO AND WHERE ARE THE POOR IN LATVIA? An exploration based on existing data. By Franziska Gassmann
For the analysis of gender differences and poverty, male – and female-headed households are compared. “Household head” is defined here as the main income contributor (breadwinner) of the household according to the HBS data.[1]Table 7 presents average poverty rates for male- and female- headed households.[2] With respect to poverty, there are no significant differences, at first sight, although the rates for female headed households are always slightly above average. / .. / A more detailed gender-based analysis of poverty reveals some differences between the risk of an individual living in poverty, depending on the characteristics of the breadwinner (see Table 8). Taking the official minimum wage as the poverty threshold, the headcount ratios for male and female-headed households are almost equal (39.98% to 40.96%). Whether a household has children or not makes a difference. With an increasing number of children, poverty rates are higher in female-headed households although they are equal where there are of no children. Regarding household size, four or more household members is a bad risk in both cases, although female-headed households have a significantly higher poverty rate (60.1% to 51.5%) in this context. The opposite is the case in single households. Female households do even better than their male counterparts. Only 15.4% of single-living females are poor compared to 23.6% of single male. Then again, with increasing size, the risk for female headed households to be poor is higher.
Table 8. Poverty by gender of the household head (Poverty line = 38 LVL)
Headcount ratio (%) / Poverty gap ratio (%)Male / Female / All / Male / Female / All
All households / 39.98 / 40.96 / 40.45 / 10.64 / 11.37 / 10.99
Households with
0 children / 28.37 / 28.8 / 28.6 / 6.34 / 6.73 / 6.55
1 child / 42.89 / 46.3 / 44.46 / 11.22 / 13.13 / 12.1
2 children / 47.62 / 61.09 / 52.96 / 13.73 / 18.41 / 15.59
3 children / 68.75 / 75.21 / 71.11 / 21.54 / 26.55 / 23.37
4 + children / 79.97 / 91.45 / 84.11 / 28.6 / 38.47 / 32.16
Household size
1 / 23.6 / 15.42 / 17.22 / 5.75 / 2.35 / 3.1
2 / 24.05 / 32.85 / 28.85 / 4.98 / 7.95 / 6.6
3 / 32.01 / 46.11 / 38.45 / 6.97 / 13.04 / 9.75
4 and more / 51.53 / 60.11 / 54.6 / 15.05 / 18.7 / 16.36
Age of head
15 – 34 / 46.31 / 51.03 / 48.16 / 13.48 / 15.45 / 14.25
35 – 64 / 38.29 / 37.88 / 38.09 / 9.99 / 10.2 / 10.09
65 and older / 32.77 / 39.75 / 36.83 / 6.86 / 10.58 / 9.08
Headcount ratio (%) / Poverty gap ratio (%)
Male / Female / All / Male / Female / All
Education of head
Higher / 18.76 / 20.76 / 19.75 / 4.05 / 4.14 / 4.1
Secondary / 42.32 / 43.19 / 42.73 / 11.05 / 11.88 / 11.44
Vocational / 44.66 / 50.91 / 46.19 / 12.5 / 15.84 / 13.32
Primary / 47.78 / 48.48 / 48.12 / 14.13 / 14.06 / 14.1
Lower than primary / 53.9 / 51.29 / 52.31 / 14.04 / 16.69 / 16.65
No education / 52.85 / 59.6 / 58.43 / 26 / 24.68 / 24.91
Marital status of head
Never married / 46.21 / 36.48 / 40.53 / 14.91 / 9.91 / 11.99
Married / 40.07 / 42.06 / 40.68 / 10.45 / 11.61 / 10.81
Married & living apart / 33.52 / 48.11 / 44.88 / 11.44 / 15.6 / 14.68
Widowed / 29.31 / 38.26 / 37.32 / 7.61 / 10.29 / 10.01
Divorced / 35.34 / 42.28 / 41.19 / 8.92 / 11.85 / 11.39
Location
Urban / 35.48 / 39.51 / 37.48 / 8.66 / 10.78 / 9.71
Rural / 48.77 / 44.68 / 47.02 / 14.51 / 12.89 / 13.81
Source: Own calculations based on data from the Latvian HBS 1996, CSB Riga.
/ .. / With respect to the civil status of the head, it is interesting to note that the poverty rate for households with female heads who have never married (36.5%) is considerably lower than the rate for the male equivalent (46.2%). The data would seem to indicate that the best option for female heads is not to get married since the poverty risk is higher in all other cases. This is quite the opposite with male-headed households. The poverty rates are lower for households with male breadwinners that are married. Significant gender differences are related to divorce and widowhood. It means for female headed households an increased risk of living in poverty while their male counterparts face diminishing risks in the same situation.”
UNDP Report: LISTENING TO THE POOR: A SOCIAL ASSESSMENT OF POVERTY IN LATVIA
Report on research findings (March – June 1998). Institute of Philosophy and Sociology. By Nora Dudwick, Ilze Trapenciere, Ritma Rungule, Maruta Pranka, Taņa Lāce
Researchers tried to analyze gender differences in the impact of poverty on men and women.
“Men expressed a sense of “social impotence,” the inability to fulfill socially important roles as breadwinners for their families. As a result, many used alcohol and some used suicide as forms of escape. Many female respondents felt that men had collapsed under the current stresses, while they, because of their sense of responsibility to their children and their greater psychological adaptability, had taken on greater burdens and become more proactive in their search for solutions / .. / While poverty affects both men and women, it often does do in different ways. Men have more possibilities to find casual jobs requiring physical strength or operating heavy farm equipment; women have more opportunities to work in the service sector. Women tend to experience more fierce discrimination on the basis of age (35-40, even 30, is sometimes considered too old), or because they have small children at home. / .. / Respondents felt that poverty had very different psychological consequences for men and women as well. In a society where men were still considered the primary breadwinners, unemployment weighs very heavily on men. While depression was a commonly noted symptom among men and women, respondents of both sexes felt that men were more likely to counter depression by increasing alcohol consumption, sometimes resorting to suicide, while women, who in some cases also increased alcohol consumption, were nevertheless more likely to resist suicidal thoughts for the sake of their children.”
However, sex/gender is absent from the latest UNDP report on ethnicity and poverty.
4. ViolenceS
Violence as a gender statistical area is still the prerogative of separate efforts made by professional NGOs or policy-interested governmental institutions. A separate category “Premeditated homicides by men” appears in the UNDP Human Development Report in the category “Violence and Crime” (1999).
Gender statistics is contained in the Statistical yearbook “Crime and Social Deviance in Latvia. A Collection of Statistical Data”, Riga (1993-1999) – number of prisoners, suicide deaths by sex and age – 1999 ;sexually transmitted diseases: patients by sex and age - 1999; victims by sex (1998); deaths from drug overdosing by sex and age(1996); deaths caused by alcohol poisoning (1995); patients by sex and age (Syphilis/gonorrhea)(1994).
Crime is explicitly combined with sexually transmitted diseases
5. HEALTH
Statistical Yearbook of Latvia contains gender-specific data on:
Consumption of alcohol and its negative social effects
Sexually-transmitted diseases
Births and abortions
UNDP Human Development Report contains Health Profile in which gender-specific statistics is given on Adults who smoke. In Demographic Profile gender-specific statistics is given for life expectancy at age 60, and in profile of Human Distress a special category is Suicides by men, introduced two years ago. In Female-Male Gaps and Females as Percentage of Males gender statistics is on life expectancy at birth, suicides. A separate category is Intentional Homicides by Men.
Particular attention is given to the gender statistics on suicide mortality in Latvia (Kruminsh, 1993; Zvidrinsh, 1993). In the UNDP Report on Human Development in Latvia the statistical column Suicides by men appears for the first time in Profile of Human Distress in 1998.
Statistically-based research programs
Morbidity and mortality are central topics of public discussions, and the public opinion is convinced from mass media that men die and fall ill with cardiovascular diseases more frequently than women, and life expectancy for males decreased by four years, and by two years for females. Latvian Institute of Cardiology made a survey of the prevalence of cardiovascular disease, its correlation with individual risk and social and gender factors were investigated in 0,5% randomized population according to 200 parameters.
The mortality increase in working ages – by 36 % for males and 29 % for females. Institute of occupational and Environmental Health at the Medical Academy of Latvia deals with gender through the prysm of occupational health problems working with asbestos in Latvia (mainly men), in chemico-pahrmaceutical enterprises; problems with chronic lead poisoning; health status and follow-up of Chernobyl liquidators in Latvia (mainly men).
The statistically-based research program “Population of Latvia and people’s health”, “Health and environment: infectious and other environmental risk factors in Latvia ‘ investigates the population reproduction and the situation with the replacement of generations. Statistics and research indicate to a rapid decrease of fertility and growth of mortality, with a stress on the negative effects upon ethnic Latvian men and women. The factor of depopulation is instrumentalized in the nationalist discourse.
Thus, demographic studies for improvement of demographic policy in the country involve statistical surveys of age and sex structure; ethnic structure of population, sex and age structure of the largest ethnic groups; number of families, the structure of families by size, age and sex. The projections were published in a special issue “Projections of population development in Latvia: 1993-2003” (Riga: University of Latvia, 1993) and briefly described in “Recent demographic developments in Europe” (Council of Europe, 1995).
The most recent studies (Reproductive Health in Latvia, 1998 and Gender and Human Development in Latvia, UNDP 1999) have shown that reproductive health in Latvia is characterized by the following problems: