Will knowing what your co-worker earns help close the gender pay gap? Finland thinks so

By Alma Fabiani

Published Nov 11, 2021 at 11:59 AM

Reading time: 3 minutes

24422

The Finnish government is currently working on a new law that would allow workers to check what their colleagues are earning if they suspect that they are being discriminated against. This move would be part of the country’s bid to close the wage gap between men and women. Could talking openly about money be the solution to our money problems?

According to Reuters, the bill has been criticised by both workers’ unions, which want even more transparency, and the biggest employers’ organisation—the Confederation of Finnish Industries (EK)—which says it would only create more conflicts in the workplace. Considering the evergreen taboo surrounding money-related topics, both sides of the situation come from a place that most of us can appreciate.

But despite this disagreement, the centre-left five-party coalition of Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin is pushing ahead with the legislation. “What is central to the government’s programme is the elimination of unjustified pay gaps,” Equality Minister Thomas Blomqvist told Reuters. “They will now be addressed more rigorously.”

Blomqvist continued by saying that he expects the bill to be passed in parliament before Finland’s elections in April 2023. Finnish women earned 17.2 per cent less than men in 2020, according to a pay equality ranking by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

The survey placed Finland in the 37th position, well behind Norway in 8th, Denmark in 9th and Sweden in 12th, even though gender equality has been high on the political agenda for decades in the country. Yet, the reasons are often similar to those in other western European nations—segregation of the job market into male and female-dominated professions, fathers taking less parental leave than mothers and women not being promoted as often as men.

In an attempt to shrink the wage discrepancy using her own means, Merja Mähkä, a journalist turned investor and blogger, has published her earnings on Twitter and Instagram since 2019, in turn, encouraging public discussions about pay transparency. “There have been situations where I’ve found out that a man doing a similar job to me has been paid more,” said Mähkä of her reasons, speaking on Tuesday 9 November as she published her taxed income of €48,522 ($56,111) for 2020.

Even before these new changes were introduced and approved, Finland already had a special relationship with what most of us know as ‘tax season’. On Monday 8 November, the Finnish tax authorities made public the data of each person in the country, opening the door for a media frenzy of gossip, boasting, and finger-pointing about who has paid their fair share in income tax.

While some might abhor the lack of privacy, the Finnish government believes that making tax information public is necessary for the country’s functioning. Finland’s welfare system, like the US’, is based on taxes, which means that public disclosures reinforce the idea that everyone should contribute.

Although it is transparent, tax day does not give the full picture so many Finnish women are yearning—the tax authority has estimated a person’s taxed income to be on an average 75 to 80 per cent lower than their actual income because of deductions and tax-free dividends.

Drafting the newly proposed bill to combine the different views of the two sides mentioned above has been difficult, leading to its publication being delayed. But Blomqvist told Reuters the bill will soon get the green light, “We will adhere to what we agreed on in the government programme.”

What remains to be seen is whether such a move will truly help close the gender pay gap between men and women in Finland. Though it’s impossible to answer this question without a doubt, I can’t help but think of a money-related conversation I previously had with Alex Holder—journalist and author of Open Up: The Power of Talking About Money—a woman who has been advocating for honest money talk for quite a while now, and who, like Finnish influencer Mähkä, started openly sharing her salary on Instagram a few years back.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex Holder (@alexandreholder)

“We all have really pocketed knowledge about money and how much people get paid. We might know about our industry and how much our parents earn but when that knowledge doesn’t stretch out to more people, it affects power dynamics and that’s how unfair pay practices can go unsolved,” Holder told Screen Shot during a 2020 interview.

“Only transparency will help us get to a place where we all speak openly about money and where asking for money advice isn’t shameful but actually normal and helpful,” I continued in the same article. Looking back on these statements, it only seems right for workers to be able to discuss their salaries with colleagues. It’s time for us to destigmatise the way we talk, think and feel about money, be it by talking with friends, partners and business owners or by boldly sharing our salary with the public.

Keep On Reading

By Abby Amoakuh

Millie Bobby Brown and husband Jake Bongiovi face backlash for starring in ad promoting Dubai

By Charlie Sawyer

Why has the new sculpture of a Black American woman in Times Square prompted mass outrage?

By Charlie Sawyer

Cher Lloyd reveals she was told to seduce Justin Bieber when she was a teen

By Charlie Sawyer

Why I never considered reporting the man who flashed me to the police

By Charlie Sawyer

Bianca Censori to become the new face of SKIMS? Sources hint at Kim Kardashian alliance

By Abby Amoakuh

Only at Coachella can you be caught saying the N-word and still perform without question

By Charlie Sawyer

Harry Potter TV series crew bewildered over production’s strange decision on location to film iconic scene

By Abby Amoakuh

Fans claim viral video of Drake fighting off drone in Sydney penthouse actually an ad for gambling site Stake

By Kit Warchol

Is Dry January sexist? A look into the gendered politics behind Gen Z’s favourite wellness trend

By Charlie Sawyer

Brooklyn Beckham and Nicola Peltz Beckham hire a lawyer to battle misinformation amid growing family rift

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Americans are learning mandarin and fleeing to RedNote and Lemon8 ahead of controversial TikTok ban

By Charlie Sawyer

Australian actor Joseph Zada cast as Haymitch Abernathy in upcoming Hunger Games prequel

By Charlie Sawyer

Meta labels tampons, breast pumps, and period pants as sexual content amid rising censorship

By Charlie Sawyer

How a viral Etsy review sparked a feminist movement on TikTok by inspiring women to embrace the bush

By Abby Amoakuh

I sat down with two professional matchmakers to solve Gen Z’s dating fatigue

By Charlie Sawyer

Here’s why the internet is convinced that Trisha Paytas’ third baby will be the reincarnation of Pope Francis

By Charlie Sawyer

UK women who miscarry could face home and phone searches following new anti-abortion police guidance

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

MrBeast hunts for volunteers to test the viral question: who would win between 100 men and one gorilla?

By Charlie Sawyer

We asked men on the street: Would you rather share your emotions with a tree or a woman? Their answers said a lot

By Fatou Ferraro Mboup

Gaza journalist death toll surpasses that of both World Wars, following latest Israeli airstrike that killed reporter