Finland Times

 

Minister of Finance Antti Rinne. File Photo – Lehtikuva.

Finance Minister Antti Rinne on Saturday said the wage gap between male and female workers should be narrowed down quickly.

 

After the elections, a target should be taken to reduce the gender pay gap to 10 per cent from the existing 20 per cent by 2019, said Rinne, also the chair of the Social Democratic Party, the second biggest component of the four-party alliance government.

 

A programme is now on to narrow the pay gap between men and women from about 20 per cent to 15 per cent by 2015.

 

Rinne said his government was behind the target, as the difference during this regime has narrowed down to 17 per cent.

 

Terming the difference in income as unjustified, the finance minister said the loss from the income gap is much higher. “On an average the amount of loss of a woman worker is equivalent to the price of a private house in Uusimaa [capital area],” he observed, adding that, “we should be more ambitious in this regard.”