Gender Wage Gap Increases

The gender wage gap increased by nearly 2% between 2012 and 2013, and is now at about 20%.

According to new findings from Statistics Iceland, the wage difference between men and women in 2012 was 18.1%. In 2013, that gap had increased to 19.9%.

The gap varies by employment sector as well. For example, the gender wage gap is at about 15% amongst workers in the public sector. Within this sector, the difference between the pay rates of men and women was slimmest amongst municipal workers, at 5.6%. At the same time, women comprise 75% of all municipal workers.

The greatest gender wage gap in general could be found in the financial and insurance sectors, where it was as great as 37.1%. The smallest gap could be found in health and social services, at 9.1%.

Statistics Iceland added that these figures were based on raw statistics before adjustments are made, such as for age, work experience and education.