October 24th, 2022
Women work for free after 3:15 p.m. in Iceland!
According to recent figures from Statistics Iceland, the average income of women in Iceland was 21.9% lower than average income of men. Based on those figures, women have earned their wages after only 6 hours and 15 minutes, in an average workday from 9 to 5.
Therefore, women in Iceland stop being paid for their work at 3:15 p.m.
Re-evaluate women’s work!
On October 24th, 1975, women all over Iceland left work to demonstrate the importance of women’s contribution to society. This day was popularly called “kvennafrí”, or Women’s Day Off. In 1985, 25,000 women left their work again, to protest income inequality.
In 2005, we protested on Women’s Day Off for the third time and tens of thousands of women left work the minute they stopped getting paid, at 2:08 p.m. In 2010 women in Iceland again left work, this time at 2:25 p.m. In 2016, women left work at 2:38 and in 2018 women left work at 2:55.
Today, in 2022, the average income of women in Iceland is 21.9% lower than average income of men. Based on those figures, women have earned their wages after only 6 hours and 15 minutes, in an average workday from 9 to 5, women stop being paid for their work at 3:15 p.m.
More information about the women’s day off protests in Iceland is available in English at the Women’s History Museum of Iceland.