4. Reports on gender and pay from the Nordic Countries

In all Nordic countries, national pay statistics have been used to study the gender pay gap, and government agencies have published reports on this. This is true particularly in Finland, Sweden and Iceland. In Finland, the Equal Pay Programme has produced several reports based on national statistics. In Sweden, the National Mediation Office, which is responsible for national pay statistics, publishes at least one report annually and sometimes special reports on the gender pay gap. In Iceland, there is a continuous effort to address the gender pay gap, with its related publications. However, only a few reports discuss work of equal value, while none address pay differences in work of equal value at the occupational level. Most apply statistics on similar work. The Norwegian report by Hoen et al. (2024) and the Icelandic working group’s final report on Job Evaluation (2024) are the only two reports that explore the concept of work of equal value in more detail, in particular the problem of defining in which jobs the work performed can be considered of equal value.

However, other reports also point out, at a general level, that an upgrading of undervalued work dominated by women is necessary if the pay gap is to be closed. The gender segregation of the labour market features in the background of almost every report and is referred to more explicitly in some, such as the main report by the Danish Lønstrukturkommitéen (Pay Structure Committee; 2023), in which gender segregation between both occupations and sectors is highlighted. Differences between sectors are addressed in several reports, and Laine (2024) in particular also provides an analysis of different sectors. Otherwise, the analyses are based more on individual characteristics, such as age or education – however, there are no analyses of the importance of part-time work.

Although the reports do not directly address pay gaps between occupations in which work of equal value is performed, they can be a step towards understanding the current state of the gender pay gap between jobs.

In Finland, the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health is currently undertaking its third four-year project on equal pay. The projects have produced a number of reports, and the two most recent, like several previously, rely on national statistics. Laine and Kauhanen’s (2023) report Naisten ja miesten työuraerot Suomen teollisuuden kuukausipalkkaisella henkilöstöllä 2002–2020 (Differences in monthly pay between women’s and men’s careers in Finnish industry 2002–2020) addresses the issue of equal pay for work of equal value by comparing different occupations and men’s and women’s starting positions within them, as well as their further career development. While the report does not explicitly address whether women and men with different pay levels in different trades and at different hierarchical levels perform work of equal value, it does raise questions about whether work is equal and about remuneration both within and between different occupations in Finnish industry.

In 2023, the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health also published the report Samapalkkaisuusohjelman ja hallituksen samapalkkaisuustoimenpiteiden kokonaisarviointi 2020–2023 (Overall assessment of the equal pay programme and government measures for equal pay 2020–2023; Kostiainen, 2023). It focuses on equal pay for similar work and work of equal value in general, not in specific occupations, and uses statistics mainly to show the development of the pay gap before and after the introduction of the Equal Pay Programme. Pay statistics from Statistics Finland are used as the basis for measuring the progress of the Equal Pay Programme through an agreement between the government and employer and employee organisations. However, the report notes that because the statistics do not include part-time workers or sole traders, they cover only 83% of paid workers and that the Incomes Register, which includes part-time pay but does not have an occupational breakdown, shows a greater pay gap than the pay statistics.

In the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s report 2024:26 Työelämän muutokset, sukupuolten työmarkkina-asema ja samapalkkaisuus (Changes in working life, gender equality in the labour market and equal pay), Pekka Laine provides a thorough review of the development of the gender pay gap in the municipal, state and private sectors, individually. Using data from Statistics Finland, he calculates the degree to which the decrease or increase in the gender pay gap is due to changes in the composition of the labour force in different occupations in each sector or the gender composition of occupations compared to the convergence of women’s and men’s pay. The calculations also take into account part-time work. While work of equal value is not discussed, as the calculations are made based on the 20 most common occupations for women and men in each sector, they provide valuable insight, in as far as these occupations can be said to constitute work of equal value.

In the Ministry of Social Affairs and Health’s report 2023:21 Tasa-arvon edistäminen työpaikoilla. Keinoja sukupuolen mukaisen segregaation purkamiseen (Promoting gender equality in the workplace – methods to phase out gender segregation), Teräsaho et al. identify pay differences as a factor that maintains gender segregation in the workplace, for example by not encouraging men to enter low-paid occupations dominated by women. Teräsaho et al. identify contractual pay policies as the cause, arguing that they make it more difficult for individual professions to get higher pay increases than others, and call for more awareness of gender effects among social partners. Greater recognition of occupations dominated by women is necessary to address the pay gap, and the public sector should serve as a role model in this respect. Teräsaho et al. refer to statistics that explain pay differences in individual sectors based on men and women undertaking different tasks, but still regard the unexplained pay difference for similar work as important to address.

In the Norwegian public report NOU 2024:6, representatives for employers and employees, the government (ministries) and Statistics Norway present the basis for calculating pay settlements to the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion. The report includes sections on pay development for women and men with regard to different sectors defined in collective agreements and characteristics such as education, age, occupation, etc. The report notes that differences in women’s and men’s labour force participation, industry/sector affiliation, education, work experience and skills are important factors behind the pay gap, as is the gender distribution in the labour market and the fact that women and men hold different positions in the workplace. The report notes that the gender pay gap may reflect various forms of pay discrimination. It also refers to a report by Statistics Norway titled Lønnsgapet i Norge. Lønnsforskjellen mellom menn og kvinner –hvor stor er den? (The Pay Gap in Norway. The pay gap between men and women – how big is it?; Grini & Fløtre, 2023), which shows how the pay gap is reduced if different statistical methods are applied or certain statistics are omitted. The Norwegian report does not explicitly discuss equal pay for work of equal value.

The report that most clearly analyses the pay gap relative to work of equal value, commissioned by the Norwegian Directorate for Children, Youth and Family Affairs (Bufdir), is Hoens et al. (2024) Ulik lønn for likt arbeid? Lønnsforskjeller mellom kvinner og menn, 2015–2022 (Unequal pay for equal work? Pay gaps between women and men, 2015–2022). The first section addresses the reasons for the pay gap between women and men doing similar work (same occupation) with statistical calculations for a number of factors, such as age, responsibility for children, sectoral affiliation, etc. The second part of the report contains reasoning and calculations on how jobs in which work of equal value is performed could be compared and the indicators that could be relevant when determining whether jobs are equal. Hoen et al. note that their task is not to determine equal value and also point out that equal value is not about the status of the job but the requirements of the job in different areas. Using data from Statistics Norway, a number of general comparisons are made with men’s pay between female-dominated and male-dominated occupations, taking various relevant aspects, such as skill or effort, into account.

The report Lønns- og karriereutvikling blant høyt utdannede i Norge, 2015–2022 (Pay and career development among highly educated people in Norway, 2015–2022; Salvanes, 2023) compares the pay of highly educated people (with a master’s degree or higher) in four categories: employees in scientific occupations in the private sector and those in the public sector and other highly educated employees in the private sector and in the public sector. Comparisons are made over time within, but not between, the sectors. The comparisons are made between men and women and between individuals with foreign backgrounds and those with Norwegian backgrounds. However, these groups are kept separate – the intersectional effects on pay in groups consisting of women with foreign backgrounds, for example, are not analysed. Salvanes finds that men receive the highest pay in all categories, especially in the private sector, where women are in the minority. Those in scientific occupations in the public sector were found to have the lowest pay. While the report does not compare jobs of equal value, it does give some indications of how equal value may be salaried differently between sectors.

In Sweden, the National Mediation Office, which is responsible for statistics on pay structures, publishes an annual report on the gender pay gap. The issue is approached from several perspectives, including through the use of both unweighted and weighted pay gaps and the application of various metrics such as percentiles, while differences between sectors are also considered. In addition, aspects such as part-time work, teleworking and commuting are discussed. Occupational segregation is also addressed, but the National Mediation Office itself states that ‘on the basis of the official pay structure statistics, it is not possible to determine whether one occupation or job is of equal value compared to another occupation or job’ (Ekberg et al., 2023a, p. 12). As in pay structure statistics, the private sector, but not the public sector, is divided into salaried and waged workers, meaning that direct comparison between sectors is not always possible. The report does, however, offer some further thoughts on the possible underlying reasons for the difference in men’s and women’s pay.

In the National Mediation Office’s report Inkomstskillnader mellan kvinnor och män (Income differences between women and men; Ekberg et al., 2023b), the pay gap is treated as part of the gender income gap. No specific information on occupations is provided, but part-time work in different sectors is discussed. The report notes that in terms of income from work, the gap between women and men is 22%, i.e. women earn 78% of what men earn, which is explained by women both receiving lower pay and working fewer hours. Interestingly, in high-paid occupations, part-time work is less common, both in occupations dominated by men and those dominated by women.

The report also draws attention to the cost of education, i.e. the fact that women are much more likely to be paying back student loans for a significant part of their lives. Thus, it should be considered that when comparing two occupations of equal value over the course of a life, one requiring a university education and the other not, the economic outcomes of the occupations are not influenced solely by pay levels.

The Budget Bill 23/24 (Prop 23/24: 1) contained, as usual, an annex on ‘Economic equality’. It can be seen as being aligned with the report by the National Mediation Office in that it considers differences in income instead of pay. With regard to pay, it finds that the gap in labour incomes narrowed between 2011 and 2021, that women, especially foreign-born, still have lower employment rates than men, that women still work part time at twice the rate of men and that women receive lower levels of pay, despite narrowing occupational and sectoral gaps. It notes that the proportion of women has increased in more occupations dominated by men (69 out of 99 occupations) than the proportion of men in occupations dominated by women (40 out of 71 occupations) and that this may be a contributing factor to the narrowing of the pay gap. The fact that occupations dominated by men are highly paid is taken for granted, i.e. there is no reflection on equal pay for work of equal value.

In its report Jämställdhetsarbetet tappar styrfart (Gender equality work loses momentum; Swedish Gender Equality Agency, 2024), the Swedish Gender Equality Agency comments on the Budget Bill and states that the report has a limited view of how to achieve economic equality. According to the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, it is also necessary to reduce the pay gap between welfare occupations dominated by women and other occupations of equal value. The Swedish Gender Equality Agency’s report also notes that the narrowing of the pay gap has stalled since 2019. The Agency points to the UN’s Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against women, which calls for Sweden to ensure equal pay for work of equal value.

In the report Likvärdiga yrken – likvärdiga kollektivavtal? (Equivalent occupations – equivalent collective agreements?; Swedish Gender Equality Agency, 2023), the Swedish Gender Equality Agency compares several aspects of collective agreements for six occupations dominated by women and six dominated by men. The pay-related factors compared are minimum pay, overtime pay and compensation for inconvenient working hours. Minimum pay, where available, appears to be slightly higher for occupations dominated by men. Overtime pay is calculated in very different ways across various agreements, so the report does not consider it possible to compare them. Compensation for inconvenient working hours is lowest in care occupations dominated by women, and slightly lower in the private sector than in the municipal sector, but the report finds that the differences are not substantial. However, occupations dominated by men covered by the IF Metall collective agreement and the electricians’ collective agreement provide significantly higher compensation for inconvenient working hours among qualified positions than both welfare occupations and other occupations dominated by men.

In Denmark, Lønstrukturkommitéen (Pay Structure Committee) published its main report in June 2023. While it mainly takes a gender-neutral approach with ‘staff groups’, it also points to the gender segregation of the labour market, both in occupational and sectoral terms, and greater tendency for part-time work among women and the resulting differences in pay between men and women. It does not make a straightforward comparison of pay between women and men but compares the pay of female-dominated groups with an expected value (LEU pay) calculated on the basis of management responsibilities, education and experience. It also repeatedly notes that people with the same level of education can have very different levels of pay. The report suggests educational choices and possibly responsibilities for a household and children by way of explanation. However, it does not consider whether pay for work of equal value (a concept that does not appear in the report) should be compared.

Verner and Mikkelsen (2023) compare pay mainly among private sector salaried workers. They mostly use sector-based categorisations (wholesale, retail, motor vehicle and other trade) divided by five types of work: management, work requiring high educational qualifications, work requiring medium educational qualifications, office and customer service, and sales and service. The results are consistent with other findings, showing that the pay gap is highest among workers who are highly paid. The pay gap is expressed as a percentage, and the number of women and men included in each category is not given. The categories likely hide several cases of work of equal value, but this is not recognised in the report.

Between 2021 and 2023, an Icelandic working group, established by the Prime Minister, was tasked with proposing a pilot model for re-evaluating undervalued work dominated by women in the state sector to allow for fair comparisons between jobs of equal value. The group’s final report Job Evaluation. Report of the Task Force on Pay Equity and Equality in the Labour Market (2024) provides a thorough review of the difficulties of job evaluation. It is mainly based on ILO recommendations and uses the ILO terms of ‘male’ and ‘female’ aspects of jobs. Although the report states that job evaluation is not in itself about pay setting, it does also refer to court cases concerning equal pay for work of equal value in Iceland, Europe and New Zealand.