From Iceland — Gender Division In The Economy Is Still High

Gender Division In The Economy Is Still High

Published March 5, 2021

Photo by
Art Bicnick

Nearly twice as many women in Iceland work in fields that require education or expertise than men, Fréttablaðið reports.

This is almost 67% of women in the labour market compared to 39% of men.

This was stated in a new report from Eurostat, the EU’s statistical institute. The proportions are much lower in the continent as a whole with only Sweden and Norway having higher proportions than in Iceland.

Women are more numerous in various sectors.

If individual subjects are examined, 17% of women work in education compared to only 6% of men in the same sector.

19% of women work in the health and social work sectors whereas only 5% of men follow the same career.

Women are also more numerous in various sectors such as finance, insurance and real estate and public administration, while men are more numerous in the information, technology and science sectors. There are also far more men in agriculture, fisheries, manufacturing and the construction industry.

In the arts, the gender ratio between men and women is more or less equal, with less than 4 percent of men and women work in this sector.

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