Boys saw girls earn less in a Norwegian social experiment — what they did next is a lesson for adults

In 2018, Norway conducted a social experiment with children, highlighting the gender pay gap in society. Well, the Finance Sector Union of Norway (@finansforbundet on YouTube) released the insightful video on International Women's Rights Day, and so far, it has received over 600K views online.

As part of the experiment, the kids were divided into pairs of two, each with a girl and a boy. One after another, each pair was called into a room and was asked to perform an activity. The team had placed two containers in front of the kids and asked them to collect the balls scattered on the ground and put them inside. The boys were asked to collect the blue balls, and the girls had to pick the pink ones. The task was easy, and everyone performed with equal thrill, and then it was time for the reward. Both players of the teams were given candies, but all the boys had a little extra than their partners. The children almost immediately realized the inequality, but none of them spoke until the team said the girls received less because of their gender. "That is just weird," Molly, a little girl, finally confronted. While another girl said, "We did the same job," gently hinting at the team's unfair decision to treat the girls with fewer candies. 

"She was just as good as I, so we should get the same reward, because otherwise it's unfair," a boy said. Following this, the little boy and a few other male participants, too, raised their voices against the unjust behavior. Not only that, but they even shared their candies, ensuring they had an equal share of the reward. "Unequal pay is unacceptable in the eyes of children. Why should we accept this as adults?" the team asked. Today, despite all awareness about gender equality, the Bureau of Labor Statistics claims that women globally earn nearly 83 cents for every dollar earned by men, revealing a gender pay gap of 17%. If more adults like these kids stand up against the injustice, the world could be a better place for sure. Meanwhile, reacting to the video, @slyras commented, "What makes this so powerful for me is that the boys understood the unfairness, spoke up about it, and distributed their wealth. Can’t see that happening with too many real grown men."

Another user who goes by @femmebizhub.co confessed, "I’ve seen this many times before, and every time, I cry. It’s such a powerful picture of something so unfair in the world. My heart aches for all the little girls out there!" Echoing the sentiments, @pati commented, "You can tell from the beginning they were all uncomfortable but didn’t know how to say it until questions were asked. That is what the patriarchy does: it makes people believe that it’s ok to be uncomfortable with how differently men and women are treated, but when they were given the opportunity to talk about it, the little boys made the right choice. So cute!" @yasmohammedxx commented, "This moved me to tears. It’s so unfair that girls have to live in a world where they are told they are less than boys. I wish I could raise my daughters on a planet where they are valued and protected and honored outside of the walls of our home as much as they are inside."

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