40% Of Workers Unable To Make Ends Meet

A recent study reports that 40% of workers in the Icelandic job market are unable to make ends meet. A similar proportion of people would be unable to deal with an out-of-pocket expense of 80.000 ISK.

The annual study was conducted by the labour market research institute Varða, whose fourth report was recently released. Similar findings were reported between 2023 and 2024. The financial status of workers is now worse than it was in 2022.

The financial status of parents and immigrants is significantly worse than other groups. According to the study, approximately 20% of parents are unable to give their children birthday and holiday gifts. A quarter of single parents experience material deficit.

Immigrants are in a substantially worse financial position than those born in Iceland. A higher rate of immigrants find it difficult to make ends meet and are unable to pay out-of-pocket expenses. Still, the employment rate of immigrants is relatively high. A larger proportion of immigrants have a higher education degree compared to Icelanders. However, their education is less likely to be valued by the local job market.