How Iceland’s Parental Leave Act Has Allowed Iceland to Become the Most Gender Equal Country in the World

By Haley Tenelshof

Since 2009, Iceland has been continuously named the most gender equal country in the world.[1] This ranking partially stems from Icelandic women holding a “high” percentage of Iceland’s Parliament positions (29.8 percent of positions) and Ministerial positions (25.5 percent of positions).[2] In addition, this ranking stems partly from Icelandic women having a high labor market participation rate and women holding 35.6 percent of senior official and managerial positions.[3] Due to these numbers and the culture surrounding gender equality in Iceland, Iceland has been deemed “the best place in the world to be a woman.”[4] But how did Iceland get here?

 First, Iceland has had a long history of breaking gender norms.[5] Starting in 1850, Iceland became the first country in the world to grant equal inheritance rights to both men and women – something some countries have yet to do in 2022.[6] Also, from 1890 to the mid-1900s, Icelandic women received equal rights to vote, equal education opportunities, and propelled laws which require equal pay – also something some countries have yet to do.[7] Iceland’s barrier breaking does not stop there. In 1980, Iceland elected the world’s first democratically elected female head of state, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir, and, in 2009, elected its first female Prime Minister.[8] Not only has there been social movements towards gender equality, Iceland has also codified laws which require, or further, gender equality such as the Law in Respect of Marriage Act,[9] the Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men,[10] the Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave,[11] and the Act Respecting Public Limited Companies.[12]

No one law or act has led Iceland to become the “greatest place in the world to be a woman,” or to be ranked number one in gender equality for 12 years in a row. However, the ability for a woman to be independent, empowered, and to have equal access to career opportunities stems largely from Iceland providing paid maternity and paternity leave via the Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave (“Parental Leave Act”).[13]

Globally, there is a disproportionate burden of household and childcare responsibilities that women carry compared to men.[14] This burden hinders a woman’s ability to participate in the labor market and work her way up to higher roles throughout time because “the most common reason women take a break from the labor market is due to childbirth.”[15] Iceland’s Parental Leave Act seeks to combat this issue by “enabl[ing] both women and men to reconcile work and family life.”[16] Under the Parental Leave Act, each parent is entitled to maternity or paternity leave for up to three months due to a birth, adoption, or reception of a child in permanent foster care.[17] In addition, the parents have an extra three months, which may be divided between the parents however the parents wish to divide it.[18] However, the initial three months per parent is not transferrable, meaning that the mother may only take the three months assigned to her and the father may only take the three months assigned to him.[19] The Parental Leave Act is applicable to the two parents of the child, whether the parents are married or unmarried.[20]

In addition to allocating the paid leave, the Parental Leave Act prohibits employers from dismissing “an employee due to the fact that she/he has given notice of intended maternity/paternity leave . . . without reasonable cause.”[21] The prohibition of dismissal also applies to pregnant women and women who had recently given birth.[22] It is required that the “employment relations between an employee and her/his employer shall remain unchanged during maternity/paternity and parental leave.”[23] These provisions ensure women are not discriminated against in the workplace for having a child, getting pregnant, or for taking their parental leave.

Iceland is ahead of the curve by allowing paid paternity leave in addition to paid maternity leave, which is more common. Globally, only 109 countries have paternity leave and only 47 of those countries offer leave for more than four weeks.[24] By allowing paid paternity leave for 12 to 24 weeks, the Parental Leave act has positively impacted societal norms surrounding typical gender roles when it comes to raising children.[25]  Since the inception of the Parental Leave Act in 2000, between 74 percent and 90 percent of fathers have taken their allotted paternity leave time.[26] Fathers’ usage of their leave time has initiated and supported a more equal division of household tasks and heightened women’s participation in the labor market.[27] The law has also changed ideas about masculinity, femininity, and womanhood – which were based on previously rigid gender stereotypes - by making it socially acceptable for fathers to be at home with their children.[28]

By breaking the gender stereotypes and putting men and women on equal footing when it comes to childcare responsibilities, the Parental Leave Act has been found to have a significant impact on women’s career opportunities and the labor market participation rate.[29] This, in turn, allows women to climb up the ranks at work to obtain managerial or senior roles and allows women to hold parliamentary or ministerial positions - both of which have propelled Iceland to be ranked the most gender equal country in the world since 2009. Giving both parents paid leave may seem like a small drop in bucket to achieving gender equality, but it has significant impacts.

[1] World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report, at 6 (2020)

[2] Id. at 183.

[3] Id.

[4] Grant Wyeth, The Misogynist Violence of Iceland’s Feminist Paradise, Foreign Policy (July 15, 2020, 10:45 AM), https://foreignpolicy.com/2020/07/15/the-misogynist-violence-of-icelands-feminist-paradise/.

[5] See Michael Chapman, Gender Equality in Iceland, Guide to Iceland, https://guidetoiceland.is/history-culture/gender-equality-in-iceland.

[6] Id.

[7] Id.

[8] Id. 

[9] See Law in Respect of Marriage No. 31 of 1993 (Iceland).

[10] See Act on Equal Status and Equal Rights of Women and Men, 2008 (Act. No. 10/2008) (Iceland)

[11] See Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave, 2000 (Act No. 95/2000) (Iceland).

[12] See Act Respecting Public Limited Companies, 1995 (amended No. 13/2010) (Iceland).

[13] Katrin Olafsdottir, Iceland is the best, but still not equal, 01-02 Søkelys på Arbeidslive 111, 118 (2018); See Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave, 2000 (Act No. 95/2000) (Iceland).

[14] See Global Gender Gap Report, supra note 1, at 11.

[15] Olafsdottir, supra note 13, at 118.

[16] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave No. 95/2000, Art. 2 (Iceland).

[17] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave No. 95/2000, Art. 8 (Iceland).

[18] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave No. 95/2000, Art. 8 (Iceland).

[19] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave No. 95/2000, Art. 8 (Iceland).

[20] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave No. 95/2000, Art. 1 (Iceland).

[21] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave, 2000 (Act No. 95/2000, Art. 30) (Iceland).

[22] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave, 2000 (Act No. 95/2000, Art. 30) (Iceland).

[23] Act on Maternity/Paternity Leave and Parental Leave, 2000 (Act No. 95/2000, Art. 29) (Iceland).

[24] Claire Cain Miller, The World Has Found a Way to Do This: The U.S. Lags on Paid Leave, NYTimes.com (Oct. 25, 2021), https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/25/upshot/paid-leave-democrats.html.

[25] Magnea Marinosdottir, Gender Equality in Iceland, Iceland.is, https://www.iceland.is/press/press--media-kit/gender-equality-in-iceland/.

[26] Id.

[27] Id.

[28] Id.

[29] See Global Gender Gap Report, supra note 1, at 11.