Remove the pay gap between women and men

01.11.18 | News
Nina Sandberg, Nordisk Råds Velfærdsudvalg

Nina Sandberg, Committee for Welfare in the Nordic Region

The Nordic Region must have equal pay certification, under which workplaces ensure equal pay for equal work for all their employees, regardless of gender. Iceland already has equal pay certification, and the ambition of the Nordic Council Welfare Committee is for the rest of the Nordic countries to follow suit.

“Joint equal pay certification can bring us even closer to an entirely equal Nordic region,” says Nina Sandberg of the Labour Party in Norway, a member of the Nordic Council Welfare Committee. Together with the rest of the Social Democratic group, she has presented this proposal to the Nordic Council. At the Nordic Council Session in Oslo, the Nordic Council has agreed to put the proposal to the Nordic governments, so that equal pay certification can be introduced in all of the Nordic countries.   

Joint equal pay certification can bring us even closer to an entirely equal Nordic region.

Nina Sandberg, member of the Nordic Council Welfare Committee

Clear advantages

The aim of the certification, which is to be developed together with the social partners, is to eliminate the pay gap between women and men, which by its nature will benefit individual women. The proposal also involves the Nordic Region working to create equality between women and men in relation to full-time and part-time work, as more women than men work in part-time positions.   Figures from an OECD report show that if women have the opportunity to work as much as men, overall GDP can rise by 15 to 30 percent. There is in other words a documented socio-economic benefit. 

Although the Nordic countries have come a long way in the field of gender equality, we still have a gender-divided labour market with a great deal of part-time work and unequal pay between women and men. The Nordic countries must address this by sharing experiences and applying new measures, of which equal pay certification is a good example.

Bente Stein Mathisen, Chair of the Nordic Council Welfare Committee

Developed in Iceland – spread in the Nordic Region

“Although the Nordic countries have come a long way in the field of gender equality, we still have a gender-divided labour market with a great deal of part-time work and unequal pay between women and men. The Nordic countries must address this by sharing experiences and applying new measures, of which equal pay certification is a good example” says Bente Stein Mathisen, Chair of the Nordic Council Welfare Committee. Iceland is the first mover in this area, and has had equal pay certification for a number of years – initially as a voluntary arrangement, and from 2018 by law. The proposal from the Welfare Committee involves developing a common Nordic equal pay certificate, working to reduce gender segregation in the labour market, and reducing gender-divided education choices.      

If women have the opportunity to work as much as men, GDP can rise by 15 to 30 percent.

OECD report Is the Last Mile the Longest