Gender Equality
Articles on gender equality in chronological order.
Anniken Huitfeldt: Minister of Labour with an eye for equality
”More people can do some work” says Anniken Huitfeldt when I meet Norway’s new Minister of Labour just as we enter 2013. There are parliamentary elections in September. So where will she make her mark in the next six months; where does she want to make a difference as Minister of Labour in Jens Stoltenberg’s government?
Iceland’s plan for bridging the pay gap
Iceland’s government and the social partners have reached a new gender pay gap deal. In the next two years they aim to reduce the gap and to agree on a project plan with joint solutions and measures. Their goal is equal pay for equal work. The public sector should set an example for other employers.
How to increase equality in Norway
From next year Norway increases parental leave to 49 weeks. Yet months of daddy leave and nursery places for all children do not automatically make for a less gender segregated labour market nor does it make the male dominance in top jobs disappear, warns Professor Hege Skjeie, who has been heading the largest report on equality in Norway so far.
Kristin Skogen Lund: NHO's new Director General getting down to business
The wind in Kristin Skogen Lund’s sails has increased lately. As President of the Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise (NHO) and a Telenor Group Director she has topped the list of Norway’s most powerful women two years in a row. Each time another top job has become available she has been touted as a possible candidate. But now that has ended: from 1 November Kristin Skogen Lund is the NHO’s Director General.
No female quotas for new Danish equality model
The Danish government wants businesses to get more women into boardrooms but not by using female quotas.
Nordic women lose power despite Denmark’s new prime minister
The Nordic Labour Journal’s gender barometer shows equality between the sexes in top political and professional positions is falling in the Nordic region. Denmark gaining its first female prime minister with Helle Thorning-Schmidt does not make up for the fact that Finland has just got a male president and a male prime minister.
Danish gender equality shifting up a gear
Denmark’s new Minister for Gender Equality, Manu Sareen, promises to turbo charge gender equality. His main focus will to fight violence against women and a gender-divided labour market. He wants more women in top management and into board rooms.
Women’s businesses mirror gender segregated labour market
There is strong political will in Sweden to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship. Between 2007 and 2014 the centre-right government spent a total of 800m SEK (€90m) on supporting, developing and highlighting women’s enterprise.
Effective sanctions make Norway’s quota law a success
The law on quotas is the most efficient measure to improve the boardroom gender balance. “But the law should be followed up by effective sanctions and state measures which help stimulate the action.” That is the advice from head of research Mari Teigen to other countries looking to legislate for quotas on company boards.
Demand for more female board members as EU’s patience runs out
EU Commissioner Viviane Reding’s patience has ran out. European companies have failed to improve board room gender equality to a satisfactory degree. The European parliament has already voted to introduce quotas to secure at least 30 percent women board members by 2015 and 40 percent by 2020.
Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir: The gender pay gap is now the most important equality issue
Iceland’s Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir has managed what many thought near impossible. She has cut public spending in the wake of the market crash without negatively impacting Iceland’s social security system.
New Norwegian drive to find jobs for people with impaired work abilities
Organisations for people with disabilities along with the social partners didn’t hold back their praise when Norway’s Minister for Labour Hanne Bjurstrøm and Minister for Children, Equality and Social Inclusion Audun Lysbakken presented their ‘Job strategy for people with impaired work ability‘ during the presentation of Norway’s 2012 budget on 6 October.
Fatal accidents in Nordic workplaces nearly exclusively involve men
Men in the Nordic region are involved in fatal accidents at work far more often than women. 1,157 men died in work accidents between 2003 and 2008, compared to only 85 women.
Denmark still waits for a female prime minister
Few countries have been so mentally prepared for a female prime minister as Denmark. The political TV drama Borgen has been a great success, also in neighbouring countries. It portrays a female prime minister and the power struggle at Christiansborg, the Copenhagen palace which houses parliament, the Prime Minister's office and the supreme court.
Iceland: the crisis brought a female breakthrough
The financial crisis hit Iceland harder than any other Nordic country, and it also led to a political earthquake. Wide-spread corruption and nepotism made voters look for new politicians. This has benefited women.
Finnish women have conquered the most important positions of power
Finnish women top the Nordic Labour Journal power barometer with 15 out of a possible 40 points. Not least because both their president and prime minster are women.
Norwegian women have lost the most power
Norway has been the hottest country in the gender equality debate since quotas were made law there in 2008. Publicly listed firms, often major listed companies, must have at least 40 percent of each sex in their boardrooms. Yet at the same time women have lost more positions of power in Norway than in any other Nordic country.
Who'll replace Sweden's powerful women?
Sweden is the only Nordic country which has never had a female prime minister or a female head of state in modern times. The Social Democrat Party leader Mona Sahlin could have become prime minister in the September 2010 elections, but her new red-green coalition lost.
New tack sought in Danish equality debate
Norway uses quotas and a men's panel to improve gender equality, but in Denmark there is disagreement on how to do it. Yet the Danes do agree there's a need for a gender equality debate which focuses on both sexes.
Motherhood vs career logic rules
We're all equal now, right? More women than ever get an education, there are new ideals for what it means to be a father and family-friendly solutions have changed the framework for how mothers' and fathers' adapt to work and family life.
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