20% gender pay gap remains between the sexes

“Honourable Speaker. Since 1976, we Icelanders have considered ourselves to be at the forefront of gender equality issues as in that year, the Althing passed an act on gender equality, no. 78/1976. Today marks 40 years since the first gender equality act was passed. In light of this, it is interesting to recall the words of Gunnlaugur Finnsson, former Honourable Member of Parliament from Framsókn. He was a member of Parliament for the Westfjords, which according to the current constituency arrangement is the Northwest constituency. In discussions about the gender equality laws, he raised the issue of the wage gap between genders. With the Speaker's permission, I would like to quote his speech, where he said:

“I also think it is worth drawing attention to the fact that this disparity between women and men in the labour market is perhaps greatest and worst among young people who work during the summer to pay for their school expenses. This, of course, is due to many factors. Some of it is traditional. It is not taken into account in the allocation rules of loan funds or other support, but it is not uncommon for girls' summer earnings to be roughly half of what boys' summer earnings are.”

Honourable Speaker. Since these words were spoken, much water has flowed under the bridge and much has changed. The law has been amended four times and new priorities, new issues, and new approaches have been worked with. Despite this, there is still too much of a difference in the status of genders, and it is believed that there is still up to a 20% wage gap between genders. That is too much, and we must continue to find ways to combat this disparity. I hope that we Icelanders will be fortunate enough to achieve equal pay as soon as possible.”

Elsa Lára Arnardóttir in Parliament Proceedings 18.05.2016.