Distribution and composition of earnings vary greatly between the five largest occupations which Statistics Iceland has published for 2018. About 75% of employees working in child-care services (occupation 5131) received basic earning below 350 thousand ISK in the year 2018 but 40% received total earnings below that amount. About 4% of the total earnings were over-time payments and 5% were irregular payments such as annual bonuses. Earnings in this occupation were the lowest in the dataset for 2018 with mean monthly total earnings of 375 thousand ISK. Most employees in this occupation work within the public sector.
Earnings are composed of a number of items, including basic earnings, different kind of regular payments such as shift premium, overtime payments and irregular payments such as annual bonuses. These items do not have the same weight in the composition of earnings within different occupations. Thus, more than 55% of employees among helpers and cleaners (occupation 9132) received basic earnings under 300 thousand ISK but total earnings were more widely distributed as over-time payments were about 9% of the total earnings and other regular and irregular payments were about 19%. Employees among helpers and cleaners work both within the private and public sector.
Note: Primary education teaching professionals (2331), Business professionals (2419), Child-care workers (5131), Shop salespersons (5221), Helpers and cleaners (9132).
There is a broader distribution of earnings among business professionals (occupation 2419) both regarding basic and total earnings. A diverse group of employees belong to this occupation, both within the private and public sector. Fixed wage contracts are common within this occupation, where working hours are not recorded in the pay-roll system and a fixed amount is paid every pay period.
A narrower distribution for both basic earnings and total earnings is found in the occupation of primary education teaching professionals (occupation 2331). Around 45% of employees received basic earnings between 500 and 550 thousand ISK and about 55% received total earnings between 550 and 650 thousand ISK. The share of over-time payments and regular and irregular payments is about 12% in total.
The distribution of basic earnings within the occupation shop salespersons (occupation 5221) was relatively flat and about 85% of the employees received basic earnings below 550 thousand ISK. The distribution of total salaries is different, with 55% having total earnings between 400 and 550 thousand ISK. The majority of employees in this occupation work in the private sector.
About the dataset Occupations are based on Ístarf95 classification. A set of comprehensive data series on earnings for 2014-2018 have been published for approximately 200 occupations. Previously published data for 2014-2017 have been revised. Data are provisional.
Results are based on the Icelandic Survey on Wages, Earnings and Labour Costs, which covers about 90 thousand employees. The survey is a stratified sample survey including legal units with 10 or more employees. The survey covers about 85% of the Icelandic labour market. Further information on definitions and methods is available on Statistics Iceland’s web.
Statistics
Earnings for full-time employees by occupation and sex 2014-2018