Surprisingly, Iceland was ranked #1 in the World Economic Forum’s ranking of global gender pay equality – the United States ranked 49th. The forum’s Global Gender Gap Report “benchmarks 144 countries on their progress towards gender parity across four thematic dimensions: Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment, Health and Survival, and Political Empowerment.”
Furthermore, according to this article, Iceland seeks to completely eliminate the pay gap within 5 years. To accomplish this feat, legislators have begun enforcing laws that place the burden of proof on businesses, not workers, to produce evidence of equality in pay. For example, they recently became the first country to fine a company if the employer cannot prove that they are paying men and women the same for similar work; they also require company boardrooms to have at least 40% female representation by law. Their next task is to target jobs that traditionally employ mainly women and ensure that they pay a higher minimum wage – this would address some of the structural inequalities that exist as women are channeled into these gendered positions.
The author points out similarities between the United States and more progressive nations like Iceland, such as women’s rights movements and equal pay laws. However, the U.S. is one of the only countries in the developed world not to offer statutory paid maternity leave or a public child care system. In addition, many other industrialized countries offer more flexible workplace arrangements. One promising fact is that in the U.S., individual states are taking matters into their own hands to combat the void seen at the federal level.
Of course, major differences exist between the United States and Iceland that complicate this issue, but do you think the U.S. can end the gender pay gap in 5 years or at all? (it has been projected to persist at least for the next 40 years)
-SCL