Women across Iceland stopped work at 2:38pm sharp today to protest the gender pay gap, which is similar to Australia’s at around 17%.
They finished up on the minute which, on average, they stop getting paid compared with the salaries of their average male counterparts. And they did it on the same day, the 24th October, that nine out of ten Icelandic women went on strike in 1975 to protest gender inequalities, a day they called Women’s Day Off.
It’s an excellent way to protest the pay gap, and it’s getting media attention all over the world.
According to Iceland Magazine, while the country’s pay gap has narrowed in recent years, progress has been glacially slow. At the current rate of change, women will be waiting until at least 2068 to achieve pay equity.
The fact Iceland even has a gender pay gap is a reminder that even countries that are considered to be some of the most gender equal in the world, still have problems when it comes to equal pay. Iceland has topped the World Economic Forum’s Global Gender Report for six years in a row, and probably will again in 2016. Australia was 36th on the list in 2015. We continued to rank first for educational attainment, yet around 32nd for economic participation and opportunity. We ranked 74th on health and survival and 61st on political empowerment — yet somehow we’re doing slightly better than Iceland when it comes to the pay gap.
So how has Iceland jumped so far ahead on gender equality?
As The Guardian outlines today, Iceland’s historic 1975 protest was significant due to the massive number of women who participated. More than 25,000 women took to the streets, one fifth of the population at the time, while nine in ten Icelandic women went on domestic and professional strike, refusing to do both paid and unpaid work.
Five years later, Iceland elected the world’s first democratically-elected female president, and by 1999 more than a third of Iceland’s MPs were female.
Such moments have also no doubt contributed to Iceland being well ahead on policy reform promoting women’s workforce participation. In 2000, Iceland legislated paid parental leave, with every parent now receiving six months paid leave, three months of which is transferable. A massive 90% of Icelandic fathers take up the option, possibly due to the fact the policy offers 80% of salary up to a capped amount on a take it or leave it basis. The Guardian cites research that finds fathers who take the three months leave are more likely to continuously be significantly involved in caring and domestic responsibilities. Childcare is then also heavily subsidised, making the return to work more affordable and accessible.
Forty one per cent of Iceland’s MPs are now female, with just under 80% of the female population working. That latter figure is just under 60% in Australia.
So the country’s well ahead on Australia when it comes to parenting policies that support women’s workforce participation, despite comparing with us when it comes to the gender pay gap — indicating that even with excellent policies supporting new mothers, discrimination on pay will still occur.
Still, at a time when the Coalition Government wants to water down paid parental leave for new parents and has put off reform of the childcare system, it’s clear Australia’s got some work to do on policies that support parents, particularly women. Perhaps we need our own ‘Women’s Day Off’ to highlight just what Australian women contribute both in the workplace and at home.
