The colleagues have different genders – and different amounts on their payslips. That we have a pay gap between women and men in Norway is a well-known fact. We know that more women work in professions that are traditionally lower paid. But this is not the whole picture. A new and comprehensive study shows that women in Norway have an average annual salary of 8.6 per cent lower than men – even if they are employed to do the same job. – In the main, previous studies have concluded that the wage differences are due to men and women being sorted into different jobs. It was surprising to find out that the wage differences are as large as they are at job level. So says Are Skeie Hermansen, associate professor of sociology at the University of Oslo. Unique study A new, comprehensive research report has recently been published in Nature Human Behaviour. The result is that different pay for equal work constitutes a significant part of the gender and pay differences. Hermansen is one of 29 researchers from a number of countries who have worked on this over several years. They have collected and analyzed salary data from more than 25 million employees a year from a total of 15 countries in Europe, Asia and North America. Similar has never been done before. Salary data from all Norwegian workers aged 30–55 are included in the research. This corresponds to around 950,000 people. More than a third of the gender differences in both annual wages and hourly wages in Norway are due to women being paid less for doing the same job, the research shows. Of the 15 countries examined, Norway ranks fifth among the countries with the least wage gap at job level. Behind both Denmark and Sweden. Hermansen points out that there are very small differences between the countries at the top of the list, and that Norway comes out well. Same job – different effort? The researchers want to get to the bottom even more of the reasons for unequal pay for equal work. But even now, they have some theories. (Hermansen points out that the explanation may be completely different in Norway than in Japan). When it comes to the situation in this country, the researchers have found that the wage differences are significantly smaller between men and childless women than between fathers and mothers. Are Skeie Hermansen is one of 29 researchers who have worked on the extensive research on pay and gender. Photo: Erik Engblad / UiO Hermansen says that women seem to adapt their careers to family life to a greater extent by reducing their efforts at work after having children. And that men like to do the opposite. – When women reduce their working hours to a greater extent than men, this could have long-term consequences for careers that spread over time, also at job level. Jakob Egholt Søgaard, assistant professor at the Department of Economics at the University of Copenhagen, is interviewed about the research in the Danish online newspaper Videnskap. He believes it is problematic to be adamant that there is a pay gap for equal work. – Are we sure that people in the same workplace with the same job title have the same tasks? I am not convinced of that, because the register data are not that detailed after all, he tells the newspaper. More transparency about what we earn Researcher Are Skeie Hermansen says that individual wage determination can also be an explanation for the wage gap within the workplace. – There is some research that suggests that men can be more forward-leaning in salary negotiations. But the employer’s role here is of course also central. It takes two to dance the tango. Much of the responsibility for reducing the gap lies with the employer, he believes, and strikes a blow for greater transparency about the pay of the various employees. – Previous research has shown that increased pay transparency can help reduce pay differences within workplaces. He believes that it is at least as important that employers work to make arrangements for parental leave, to ensure that women are not left behind. But what should you as an employee do to earn more like your male colleague in the same job? – The division of labor within families is a key obstacle to further progress on this front. Many have ideals of living in equal relationships, but in practice there is often a gender bias that can have long-term career consequences, says Hermansen. It has gotten better, after all The research shows that wage differences at job level have been reduced by over a third in Norway over the past 25 years. – There is reason to believe that we will get smaller and smaller differences with each passing generation, says Hermansen.
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Much different pay for equal work, new research shows – news Trøndelag
