As part of a bid to help close the wage gap between men and women, the Finnish government is planning to put a new law into motion that allows workers to see what their colleagues are earning if they feel as though they may be experiencing discrimination in the workplace.
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development published a pay equality ranking which revealed that Finnish women earned 17.2 percent less than men in 2020. Globally, this placed Finland in 37th place, which is far behind their neighbors Norway, Denmark, and Sweden, which occupied the eighth, ninth, and twelfth places, respectively.
According to a 2018 report by the Finnish Equality Ombudsman, the reasons behind the disparity are often similar to those in other Western European nations. These include the segregation of the job market into male- and female-dominated professions, fathers having less parental leave than mothers, and women not being promoted as much as men are.
To generate more public discussion about pay transparency, journalist and blogger Merja Mahka has been publishing her earnings on Twitter and Instagram since 2019.
“There have been situations where I’ve found out that a man doing a similar job to me has been paid more,” she said.
Equality Minister Thomas Blomqvist told Reuters: “What is central to the government’s program is the elimination of unjustified pay gaps… they will now be addressed more rigorously.” According to Blomqvist, the bill is expected to be passed in parliament before the elections take place in April 2023.
