Gender equality in finance: Progress remains too slow
International Women’s Day is a day to highlight gender inequality and the work still needed to achieve equality. The Nordic countries are often seen as global frontrunners in gender equality, yet significant gaps remain – including in the financial sector. New figures from across the Nordic region show that gender pay gaps persist and that progress towards equal pay is moving far too slowly.
For trade unions in the financial sector, this underlines the need to intensify efforts to create a more equal working life.
Persistent gender pay gaps
Equal pay has long been a key priority for the affiliates of the Nordic Financial Unions (NFU). Yet recent analyses from across the Nordic region show that significant gaps remain.
In Denmark, a new analysis by HBS Economics conducted on behalf of Finansforbundet shows a gender pay gap of 14.4 per cent in the banking sector. While part of this difference can be explained by factors such as roles and responsibilities, 7.1 per cent remains unexplained, indicating structural challenges that still need to be addressed.
A similar pattern can be seen in Norway. Finansforbundet Norway and Finance Norway recently updated their gender equality indicator for 2025, which measures seven key indicators for equality in the financial sector.
The data shows that although the education gap between women and men has largely been closed, the wage gap remains unchanged. Women earn on average 84.5 per cent of men’s wages, and this level has remained stable in recent years. This suggests that structural barriers within the sector continue to prevent progress towards equal pay.
In Sweden, Finansförbundet reached a similar conclusion in 2024, when reviewing gender equality in the financial industry: progress is being made, but far too slowly, and unjustified pay gaps remain a challenge.
Transparency and policy tools
One important step towards tackling unequal pay, highlighted by NFU’s member unions, is the EU Pay Transparency Directive, which will come into force in June.
The directive introduces new requirements aimed at increasing transparency in wage setting. Employers will be required to include salary information in job advertisements, will no longer be allowed to ask candidates about their previous salary during recruitment processes, and companies with more than 100 employees will need to report gender pay gaps.
Such measures can help identify and address pay inequalities.
Towards a more equal financial sector
However, transparency alone will not be enough. Achieving real gender equality in the financial sector requires both structural and cultural change.
Research shows that more equal parental leave can play an important role. A recent study based on data from around 170,000 Danish parents found that earmarked parental leave for fathers has helped reduce the gender pay gap. As fathers take a larger share of parental leave and mothers return to work earlier, women’s wage development improves and long-term income losses after childbirth are reduced.
At the same time, workplaces need to ensure stronger support for women returning from parental leave so that career progression and salary development are not negatively affected. Organisations also need to reflect on how work is organised, how performance is evaluated, and which roles are valued and rewarded.
As part of this work, Forsikringsforbundet, together with other Danish organisations, has developed guidelines for employers on how to reduce the gender pay gap in the workplace. The guidelines highlight that efforts to promote equal pay must begin already in the recruitment process.
Across the Nordic region, NFU’s member unions continue to drive this work forward and actively work to reduce pay gaps and promote greater gender equality in the financial sector.
