Iceland makes it illegal to pay men more than women

As the world welcomes in the Near Year, Iceland heralds a new era for gender equality. The Nordic nation, which has been voted as the most gender equal country for nine years in a row, has just introduced a new law making it illegal to pay men more than women. 

Declared on International Women's Day 2016, the new law came into effect as of the 1st January 2018 and requires companies with 25 or more employees to be able to prove that they adhere to equal pay for men and women.

The World Economic Forum notes that even in the most gender equal nation, in 2016 Icelandic women, on average, earned 14 to 18% less than men.

Dagny Osk Aradottir Pind, a board member of the Icelandic Women's Rights Association commented to Al Jazeera News: "The legislation is basically a mechanism that companies and organisations... evaluate every job that's being done, and then they get a certification after they confirm the process if they are paying men and women equally,"

She continued, "It's a mechanism to ensure women and men are being paid equally. We have had legislation saying that pay should be equal for men and women for decades now but we still have a pay gap.”

Research carried out by property consultancy Knight Knox highlights the effect of the gender pay gap in the UK, with male renters’ salaries 28% (or £5,344.25) higher than female renters’ – illustrating a real problem for many females in the UK and across the world.

Reuters reported that in 2017 men in full time work in Britain typically earned 9.1% more than women. This is down from 9.4% in 2016 and marks the lowest gap since 1997 when the survey was first started when they observed a gap of 17.4%.

Whilst the gender pay gap in many countries is improving, there is still a clear issue that needs addressing in order to balance differences in attitudes toward men and women in the workplace and beyond. 

This world first move from Iceland marks a positive start to the year and is an example to lead by.