Today, women in the Nordics are among the most active labour market participants in the world, but the goal of equal conditions in the labour market is far from being achieved. With this in mind, the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated the project ‘Pay equity in the Nordic region’ in 2022. A crucial issue for the project was to broaden the focus from equal pay for equal work, to equal pay for work of equal value. The overall aim of the project was to promote dialogue and the exchange of experiences and knowledge on how to address pay gaps between the Nordic countries and the social partners. 

The latest report released under the project is Towards pay equity: Explaining the undervaluation of women’s work in the Nordic countries.  

The 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 actors in the Nordic countries. By combining different statistics on gender pay gaps with theoretical approaches and survey responses from key stakeholders, the report provides a deeper understanding of the complex mechanisms underlying the gender pay gap. 

Jimmys Sand is an analyst at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research and author of the report: 

Unequal pay is based on a combination of structural factors, in particular the high degree of gender segregation, and social norms on, mainly, skills and caring responsibilities. Tackling this requires a combination of policy reforms as well as measures under the control of the social partners. These include efforts to promote gender equality in unpaid care work, as well as paid work in the labour market. 

It is hoped that the three publications, together with the Nordic network that has been formed, can promote further work to reduce pay gaps and the gender-segregated labour market in the Nordic region.  

Jimmy Sand sees an important role for the social partners in particular: 

“In the Nordic countries, there is a strong norm that employers and trade unions are responsible for wage formation without political interference. They therefore have a great responsibility not only to stand up for gender equality as a principle, but also to take action through co-operation to bring about real change. 

Although the gender gap has narrowed slightly over time, there are still large differences between different professions and sectors. Comparing statistics on pay and gender can illustrate gender inequality in salary setting, but all Nordic countries have their own specific challenges and shortcomings when it comes to national statistics. This affects the ability to compare salaries between occupations of equal value.

It is already known that women and men are paid differently for equal work, but women and men also work in different occupations with different pay levels. According to an EU directive, it should be possible to compare pay levels between different works if they are of equal value, i.e. have the same requirements. However, such comparisons have been carried out sparingly and have not yet led to a reduction in the pay gap.

On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the second report in a series of three is now published.  It is hoped that the report will make an important contribution to efforts to reduce the gender pay gap in the Nordic region. The report presents a study of how available official statistics can be used to analyse pay differences between women and men in work of equal value at national level in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Recommendations from the study indicate the basic requirements that national statistics would need to fulfil and which statistics should be available for analyses on gender and pay for work of equal value at national level.

This publication is the first in a series of reports from a project initiated by the Nordic Council of Ministers to reduce the pay gap that still exists. The project is being carried out by Nordic Information on Gender, NIKK.

A story of much talk and little action

The publication describes legislation and policy initiatives in the Nordic countries, including a discussion about the implementation of the EU Pay Transparency Directive with focus on the issue of pay equity. The report also provides a brief overview of Nordic labour market models and highlights differences for possibilities to advance work towards equal pay for equal work and work of equal value. Special attention is paid to the interaction between legislation, collective wage agreements and requirements for reporting wage statistics related to the ISCO standard.

The publication is written by the lawyer Eberhard Stüber. He has worked as, among other things, an analyst at the Equal Opportunities Ombudsman (JämO), and as a senior investigator at the Swedish Gender Equality Agency, both in Sweden.

The other two reports in the series will be published in winter 2024/2025.

Towards Pay Equity: Regulation, Reporting and Practice in the Nordic Region

Read the report online

Print version (pdf)

More news on economic equality

Every year, the UN Commission on the Status of Women (CSW) brings together UN member states to set goals for global gender equality and develop measures to promote gender equality. In 2024, the summit takes place from 11 to 22 March, focusing on economic vulnerability and how to tackle it to empower women and girls. 

The Nordic countries have worked together for over 40 years to promote gender equality in all areas of society and have important knowledge to contribute on economic vulnerability. On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, NIKK has produced a knowledge base that highlights a range of relevant areas. 

Women are over-represented

Despite well-developed welfare systems in the Nordic countries, poverty is a growing problem. More Nordic citizens live in economic vulnerability today than ten years ago, and in several of the Nordic countries the gap between rich and poor has increased. 

“The growing number of children living in poverty is particularly serious, as is the fact that many pensioners, especially women, are living in economic hardship. In order to more effectively tackle poverty, it is therefore necessary to consider all stages of life, from childhood, through youth and adulthood and into retirement and old age” says Susanna Young Håkansson, analyst at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research, University of Gothenburg, and the author of the knowledge base. 

Women are over-represented amongst those living in relative poverty and are generally at higher risk of poverty than men. With respect to finances, the knowledge base highlights a number of structural factors that favour men over women. There is also a need to look beyond age: how economic vulnerability affects the lives of different groups.  

Violence in relation to economic vulnerability

It is also important to highlight the role of violence in relation to economic vulnerability. While far from everyone living in economic vulnerability is exposed to violence, it is present and has led to poverty for many in the most economically vulnerable groups. 

“Welfare systems, authorities and employers must take shared responsibility for tackling the consequences of economic violence. Internationally, for example in the UK, there is experience of how this can be done, with social services and other relevant authorities given resources to create and develop support systems to support people who are victims of economic violence” says Susanna Young Håkansson.  

The Nordic knowledgebase Economic vulnerability in different stages of life emphasises the importance of taking into account the whole life cycle of people and shows the conditions of different groups. It also addresses economic violence in different forms, the consequences for victims, as well as the need for support structures. The knowledge base is summarised in a number of key messages.  

The following projects have been granted funding from the Nordic LGBTI Fund:

LGBTQI senior issues in the Nordic countries
The project is planning a conference for experts, professionals and representatives from the target group to create a Nordic network to share knowledge, experiences, collaborate and raise the LGBTI perspective in Nordic political processes. Read more about the project here.

Developing training program to support LGBTI+ wellness in school
School environments are undergoing a decline in which hate and violence against LGBTI+ students is increasing. Through this project, teachers and school staff in the Nordic region will have access to training and forums to share experiences and knowledge on how to increase the safety of LGBTI+ students. Read more about the project here.

Trans, labour market, wallet
The project aims to visualise the consequences of discrimination against trans people. A study will be carried out to produce equality data for trans people, with a focus on the labour market and personal finances. The results of the study will be presented in a report and disseminated at a final conference in 2024. Read more about the project here.

The Nordic LGBTI Fund is administered by NIKK on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. Information on the 2024 call will be available later this year.

The Nordic conference Prevent and Intervene – Ending Sexual Harassment at Work, at Litteraturhuset in Oslo on 30 October, will follow up on the results of the five projects that have been granted funding in the Nordic research initiative on sexual harassment at work 2021-2023. 

‘The focus on preventive work and collaboration between different labour market actors is what makes this research initiative unique. It will therefore be very exciting, both to learn about the results of the projects and to listen to discussions and reflections on Nordic collaboration in the work against sexual harassment in working life’,  says Maja Lundqvist, coordinator of the conference. 

Violence, harassment and other forms of vulnerability in working life are major social challenges, with serious consequences for individuals and work organisations. At the same time, there are major knowledge gaps in terms of methods for preventing and preventing violence and harassment, protecting vulnerable people and acting proactively in work environments.  

This conference, held in English, will bring together policy makers, labour representatives and researchers to discuss challenges and solutions. In addition to reflections and conclusions from the five funded projects, Nordic dimensions of knowledge about sexual harassment will be discussed, as well as preconditions for developing and implementing new knowledge in the field. 

The research programme is an initiative of all the Nordic ministers for gender equality. It is a cross-sectoral Nordic collaboration between the sectors for gender equality, for culture and for working life and the Nordic Committee for Children and Young People. The initiative is administered by NIKK on behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers. 

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