9.1%: Is That Really All We Have to Look Forward Too?

     The fact that unpaid labor is not considered a part of a country’s Gross Domestic Product is quite literally gross. An extremely large portion of this unpaid labor is by women, and since economists decided that this work does not count as productive, the labor of women is being devalued. This is only a mere sliver of the discrimination women have faced when dealing with women’s labor.

    The protests in Iceland reflect the result of the discrimination women have faced throughout the years. On October 24, 1975, there was a day of protest by about 90% of Icelandic women, in which they refused to do any work for the entire day. Mothers who had children took them to their male relatives’ houses for the day, took the day off from work, and refused to do any housework. This protest revealed just how important the work is that women do, particularly unpaid household chores, such as cooking, cleaning the dishes, and laundry. This is where the name “invisible women” comes from, as one woman taking part in the 1975 protest noted, “Let the men of Iceland see how they coped without the invisible work women did every day to keep the country moving.” What is most shocking about these protests is that Iceland is one of the most progressive countries in the world, yet they still have an estimated 9.1% pay gap between men and women (as of 2022). The fact that a country that is called the “equality paradise” has this much of a pay gap is scary. I don’t even want to know the pay gap for mid tier and lower tier progressive countries.

However, the efforts by Icelandic women did not go unnoticed. They were able to make clear, not just social changes, but executive changes as well. The Equality Act of 1976 ensured equality between men and women in all respects. The same can not be said for several other countries in the world, including the United States. Many countries have established “gender blind policies.” However, the issue with this is that, although it is supposed to be a policy that benefits everyone, it naturally benefits the man. For example, when looking at faculty who have an allotted tenure period, one law states, “tenure-track systems have seven years to receive tenure after getting their first academic job or they’re fired.” Although there is no mention of gender, this is biased against women who want to have children. Change can happen. It did in Iceland, so why can’t the rest of the world follow?