New study on how statistics can be used to reduce pay gaps

Although the gender gap has narrowed slightly over time, there are still large differences between different professions and sectors. Comparing statistics on pay and gender can illustrate gender inequality in salary setting, but all Nordic countries have their own specific challenges and shortcomings when it comes to national statistics. This affects the ability to compare salaries between occupations of equal value.

It is already known that women and men are paid differently for equal work, but women and men also work in different occupations with different pay levels. According to an EU directive, it should be possible to compare pay levels between different works if they are of equal value, i.e. have the same requirements. However, such comparisons have been carried out sparingly and have not yet led to a reduction in the pay gap.

On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the second report in a series of three is now published.  It is hoped that the report will make an important contribution to efforts to reduce the gender pay gap in the Nordic region. The report presents a study of how available official statistics can be used to analyse pay differences between women and men in work of equal value at national level in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Recommendations from the study indicate the basic requirements that national statistics would need to fulfil and which statistics should be available for analyses on gender and pay for work of equal value at national level.

NIKK, Nordic Information on Gender, is a co-operation body for the Nordic Council of Ministers placed at the Swedish Secretariat for Gender Research at the University of Gothenburg.