The gender pay gap is a challenge that affects labour markets around the world, including the Nordic countries. Despite the fact that women in the Nordic countries are among the most employed in the world, they are still subject to significant gender pay gaps. The pronounced gender segregation of the labour market, with women and men working in different sectors and occupations, reinforces these differences. Occupations dominated by women are often valued and paid less than male-dominated occupations with similar skill requirements.
To help reduce the pay gaps that still exist between women and men in the Nordic countries, the Nordic Council of Ministers has initiated a project on equal pay for work of equal value in the Nordic region. The Nordic Council of Ministers’ cooperation body Nordic Information on Gender (NIKK), located at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research, has carried out the project, which, among other things, has resulted in this publication. The report was written by Jimmy Sand, analyst at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research.
This publication discusses various explanations for the undervaluation of women’s work in a gender-segregated labour market, based on a survey of social partners and other key stakeholders in the Nordic countries. A background review of various statistics of gender pay gaps is provided with the aim of illustrating the underlying factors. Various aspects of the survey highlighted by the respondents are also discussed, drawing on relevant research.
This is the third and final report in a series of publications from the project on equal pay for work of equal value in the Nordic countries. The first report, authored by Eberhard Stüber, describes legislation and policy initiatives in the Nordic countries, including a discussion of the implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive with a focus on the theme of work of equal value. The second report in the series, authored by Minna Salminen-Karlsson and Anna Fogelberg Eriksson, examines how available official statistics can be used to measure gender pay gaps in work of equal value at the national level in the Nordic countries, with in-depth studies of Finland, Norway and Sweden.