How Icelandic Women Really Feel About The New Equal Pay Law

icelandic women

The Inspired Vengeance of Mythic Icelandic Women

And of the documents by or about ladies collected because the nationwide archives had been based in 1888, there is a strong male bias in the catalogs; up to now, catalogers have left out mentions of girls and only listed males referenced within the paperwork, making it troublesome to for all however essentially the most dedicated researchers to search out these hidden ladies. I might see that this interconnectedness of previous and current knowledgeable Rakel’s work at the Women’s History Archive as nicely. The Archive was began by feminist activists and librarians in 1975, and was housed in the home of considered one of its founders, Anna Sigurðardóttir, until 1996, when it turned a part of the National Library.

In addition, women in Iceland usually tend to take care of youngsters, take day off work to be with the family, or work part-time. Iceland is in many ways a mannequin country in issues of feminism. Yet here, too, ladies earn less than men.

At the city council election in Reykjavík in 1922 the political events refused to put women in safe seats.
Many gender specialists are subsequently calling for extra pressure to be applied to businesses.
(This signifies that when you start courting an Icelandic man and also you’re out driving and the tyre goes flat, he’ll most likely count on you to know the way to change it your self. It’s also very uncommon for Icelandic males to exit of their way to maintain doors open for ladies, and even to offer to pay for drinks — they normally count on women to have the ability to maintain their own doorways open, and pay for their very own drinks. There are, of course, exceptions to the rule).
«There’s nonetheless a big divide between women and men in our society,» Brynhildur Heithar- og Omarsdottir, the executive supervisor of the Iceland Women’s Rights Association, advised DW.
The women’s celebration did come up, but not for the reasons parliamentarians had feared.
Berglind refused and started experimenting with Sigmar’s diet, eradicating gluten, sugar, and dairy.

Each evaluation is made by an unbiased and accredited reviewer. Should a company fall short, they face fines ranging as much as 50,000 Iceland krona (€400) for each day they are not in compliance. Gender pay equality was one of many key marketing campaign guarantees made in 2016 by Iceland’s Reform Party (Viðreisn), which was part of the Independence Party’s coalition authorities.

A Gender Equality Act was signed in 1976 and, following Finnbogadóttir’s election as president, the Women’s Alliance was launched with the aim of propelling more girls into politics and gained its first parliamentary seats in 1983. A staggering 90 percent of Iceland’s female inhabitants turned out for the 1975 protest. Instead of calling it a strike, which could have alienated the nation’s extra conservative ladies (“as a result of to go on a strike was a really leftie thing to do,” mentioned Ómarsdóttir), the day was called Kvennafrídagurinn, meaning “girls’s day off,” an idea all girls might get behind. For the last decade, the nation of roughly 350,000 folks has topped the World Economic Forum’s annual gender hole report, which ranks international locations’ progress toward gender equality throughout areas together with financial participation, political representation, schooling and health. For comparability, the United States came in 51st last yr, sandwiched between Mexico and Peru.

Meet Katrín Jakobsdóttir, Iceland’s Left-Wing, Environmentalist, Feminist Prime Minister

The pay equity regulation was passed — perhaps not coincidentally — a year after female candidates received almost half the seats in Iceland’s parliament, which is housed in the Althingishus in Reykjavíokay. It’s time for the U.S. to catch up to our associates in Iceland and recognize that when girls are each in energy and empowered to succeed, so can the nation,» stated Teresa C. Younger, President and CEO of the Ms Foundation. Younger mentioned that closing the pay gap in addition to addressing different financial complexities like parental depart and retirement — as they have in Iceland — are changes that might radically benefit girls and households whereas strengthening any economic system. “The U.S. has lots to be taught from the Iceland transparency instance. It would make a world of difference to know the place you stand earlier than you even apply for a job.” Another professional noted that a real solution to closing the gap will take artistic options from business in addition to legislative motion. “I was heartened to listen to the news out of Iceland, “ stated Anne Hedgepeth, Vice President of Public Policy and Government Relations for the American Association of University Women.

Women singing on the 1975 Women’s Day Off protest in Reykjavík. And when it comes to accumulating, researching, and sharing queer women’s historical past in Iceland, the work has just begun. What research has been carried out on queer historical past in Iceland has focused primarily on males, and so the Hinsegin Hulkonur challenge is attempting to gather queer girls’s history to provide researchers, lecturers, and students excited about doing this work someplace to start. President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir (left) visiting the Women’s History Archive when it was in Anna Sigurðardóttir’s residence in 1985. Photo courtesy of the Women’s History Archive.

As Statistics Iceland points out, measuring the gender wage hole is sophisticated. To measure it, surveyors face the challenging task of factoring in solely these elements that may be attributed to variations in gender alone, which is often hard to quantify. At the identical time, there may be a shortage of knowledge from one explicit firm or another, making the amount of available salary knowledge limited.