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On January 1st, 2018 Iceland became the first country legislate that paying a woman less than a man is illegal.
Companies with more than 25 employees will face hefty fines if they are found to pay women less money for the same job as men.
On International Women’s Day in 2017, the Icelandic Government pledged to eradicate the gender pay gap by 2022.
“We want to break down the last of the gender barriers in the workplace,” Thorsteinn Viglundsson, Iceland’s social affairs and equality minister said in an interview last year.
“History has shown that if you want progress, you need to enforce it.”
The pay gap was around 20 percent in Iceland in 2015, according to the government. As the New York Times reported in March, Iceland’s goal is to bridge their gap by 2022.
And it’s about time! We’re looking at Australia next. This comes after reports in November that the arts industry in Australia has the biggest gender pay gap.
