In 2007, Iceland had the fifth highest income in the world and 160 per cent of that of the United States. The financial crisis hit at the end of September 2008, as the money markets sized up in the wake of the Lehman meltdown. The banker’s wild behaviour of text-book case accounting fraud (very bad loans with high yields; extraordinarily leveraged etc.) gave rise to a feminist debate leading eventually to enshrine how to achieve equal pay for women and men in law in 2017. Icelandic trade unions, the employers’ confederation and government officials have developed an equal pay management system called “The Equal Pay Standard” that pledges to help employers prevent salary discrimination and enable them to become certified. In 2017, the Equal Pay Standard was mandated for companies and institutions with 25 employees or more, with amendments to the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men. Based on in-depth interviews with the social partners in Iceland and other relevant actors for the equal pay standard, this paper aims to interrogate 1) the mechanisms enforcing the system and 2) the consequences for the national economy and societal discussion. It will also attempt to draw lessons for other Nordic countries. Iceland is interesting partly because it is an unusually pure example of larger dynamics that produced the rising levels of financial fragility. It is also interesting in how the debate on equal pay influenced the discussion and legal setting for financial recovery.
