A Women's Strike has been called for October 24. Among the demands of the Women's Year is that a comprehensive valuation system be developed and that the systematic undervaluation of women's jobs be corrected in order to eliminate the gender pay gap. It can be expected that a discussion about the gender pay gap and the valuation of jobs will arise in connection with the strike. The Equal Pay Agency is therefore inviting media professionals to a conversation with the aim of deepening their understanding of the subject.

The focus will be on the gender-segregated labor market, different approaches to the gender pay gap debate, valuation systems, and job valuation. The goal is to provide practical advice on interpreting gender pay gap data and increase understanding of the underlying gender and equality perspectives.

The Equal Pay Agency has the role of supporting wage setting in the interest of equal pay with an emphasis on job evaluation. It is owned by the Association of Icelandic Municipalities and the City of Reykjavík.

To support informed, professional and objective discussion about the gender pay gap and job valuation, the Equal Pay Agency has invited media professionals to a conversation about the gender pay gap and job valuation.

On October 24th, 50 years have passed since Women's Day, when women in this country walked off the job to demonstrate the importance of their work contribution. The position of women in the labor market was far from equal to that of men at that time. Their work was undervalued, which led to their wages being lower. The undervalued was justified by the fact that they were not the breadwinners of the household, but at the same time they often had to face accusations of neglecting their children due to their participation in the labor market. On that day, Icelandic women demanded change, and it is estimated that 90% of women walked off the job to demand recognition for their paid and unpaid contributions to society.

Now, 50 years later, the supporters of Women's Year, which are numerous organizations of feminists, women, workers, disabled people and queer people, are making demands for correction of the systematic undervaluation of women's work.

What does that requirement entail?

The demand includes the position that the methods used in setting wages constitute gender discrimination because they do not value the factors that characterize traditional women's jobs. This leads to a gender pay gap that is demanded to be eliminated.

Gender-segregated labor market

The gender pay gap can largely be attributed to a gender-segregated labor market. Women work more than men in, for example, social, health, and education sectors, where jobs are generally paid less than jobs in, for example, construction and financial services, where men work more.

A simple example of this is that jobs that involve responsibility for people are paid less than those that involve financial responsibility. Another is that when setting wages, physical stress at work is rewarded more than emotional stress.

In order to correct this imbalance, salary setting must be based on professional criteria that reflect all jobs, both male and female, in accordance with the equal pay provisions of the law. To do this, a job evaluation or value assessment system must be implemented to base salary decisions on.

Statistics and interpretations

In 2024, the unadjusted gender pay gap was 10.4%. The pay gap varies by market, but in that year the unadjusted gender pay gap was 15.2% in the general labor market and 7.7% among state employees, but considerably lower, at 4%, among local government employees. It should be noted that the base salary of local government employees is based on a performance evaluation system.

When examining statistics on the gender pay gap, it is important to keep in mind that unadjusted pay gap figures do not tell the whole story. Comparing the earnings of men and women reveals the extent of the gender pay gap. When the variable working hours is added, the so-called unadjusted pay gap is obtained, and if even more variables such as education level, job, industry and type of company are added to explain the pay gap, we have the adjusted pay gap.

This can be confusing, especially given the large variation in these measurements. This was reflected, for example, in the 2023 wage gap figures, when the wage gap was measured at 21.9%, the unadjusted wage gap at 9.3%, and the adjusted wage gap at 3.6%.

It is therefore important to understand what is being measured at any given time. For example, it is particularly important when interpreting information from wage analyses not to explain away the wage gap by the variables that cause it.

For example, using industry as an explanatory variable ignores the gender division of the labor market and the skewed valuation of jobs, where traditionally women's jobs are valued less than traditionally men's jobs.

To support professional and objective discussion of the gender pay gap and the valuation of jobs during the Year of Women, the Equal Pay Office has invited media professionals to an hour-long discussion about these issues tomorrow at 1 p.m. Further information can be found at jafnlaunastofa.is

Helga Björg O. Ragnarsdóttir, Executive Director of the Equal Pay Office