Gender Equality
Articles on gender equality in chronological order.
Nordic gender equality 2018 – from #metoo to new structures
#metoo has thrown the spotlight on sexual harassment and indecent behaviour towards women, and marks a new chapter when it comes to discrimination. But loud voices, engagement and structural measures are all needed to achieve gender equality.
Women tighten grip on power in Norway - bottom place for Finland
When Norway’s Prime Minister Erna Solberg met the world’s most powerful man, alongside her was also Norway’s first ever female Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ine Eriksen Søreide. Norway still leads NLJ’s gender equality barometer by a good margin, while Finland has fewer women in positions of power than any Nordic country has had for 19 years.
How should trade unions handle #metoo?
The #metoo movement’s many appalling stories show that parallel to rules and regulations there has been culture of silence which has made sexual assaults and harassment possible. This is a challenge for trade unions on all levels, concluded Nordic trade union representatives at a meeting in Stockholm in February.
"Finnish home care support increases inequality"
Fewer Finnish children go to nursery than elsewhere in the Nordic region. One reason is the home care support, paid to parents who chose to stay at home beyond the normal parental leave period. The organisation Mothers in Business wants to scrap the benefit altogether, calling it a trap for women.
Enormous interest for Icelandic equal pay standard
Iceland is the first country in the world to make it legally binding for all companies with more than 25 employees to have an equal pay standard. The law says there should be equal pay for equal work for women and men in the same workplace. This has gained international attention.
Gender equality money to draw people to professions with labour shortages
Region Gotland has decided to set aside extra money for this year’s wage review to fill the pay gap and to help professions facing labour shortages. The hope is that the right money can get existing workers to stay and tempt new ones to come and work on the island.
Norwegian technical studies recruitment a model for Nordic universities
A considerable proportion of girls choose not to study sciences and technology. The Norwegian University of Science and Technology NTNU in Trondheim has chosen to hold several fairs to recruit girls. The rest of the Nordics will follow, the “girl agents” say.
Earmarked equal pay pool to reduce gender pay gap
Danish trade unions and political parties have proposed to earmark a separate pool of money to increase pay in traditional female occupations. One expert calls it a necessary first step, but warns more is needed to get rid of gender divisions in the labour market altogether.
Theme: New measures in the fight for gender equality in the Nordics
The 2018 gender equality barometer indicates a more equal division of power between the sexes in the Nordic region. Only Finland is lagging behind. #metoo shows more needs to be done in the fight for gender equality. The Nordic region is getting to grips with basic and structural changes in order to improve the gender balance in the workplace and in society as a whole.
Ásmundur Einar Daðason: Time to overhaul the social safety net
Iceland’s Minister of Social Affairs and Equality Ásmundur Einar Daðason is also responsible for labour market issues. He met the labour market parties already the first week after becoming a government minister. Right now two issues are extremely important, he believes: To maintain the good relations with the labour market parties and strengthening the trust between the ministry, the government and the parties.
From opera to Slush – how #metoo is changing the Nordics
The global #metoo campaign, which sheds light on sexual harassment and aims to break the culture of the silence surrounding it, has arrived in the Nordics. Many groups in Sweden, from actors and journalists to lawyers and trade union members, have signed petitions. We take a closer look at the situation in Denmark and Finland.
Metoo - also at the Oslo ministers' meeting
"This is a huge thing," says an engaged Ylva Johansson, Sweden's Minister for Employment. The working environment was a topic for debate during the Oslo labour ministers' meeting. There she explained the scale of #metoo in Sweden. Next year her country will be heading the Nordic Council of Ministers, focussing on integration, the future of work and measures to stop work-related crime.
The Nordic region not good enough on gender equality and mental health
There has been no overall change in the distribution of powerful positions in the Nordic region, according to the NLJ’s gender equality barometer for 2017. Yet there is an increase in the number of women in top positions within trade unions, employers’ organisations and labour government ministries.
Nordic gender equality stagnating, yet there is an increase in female working life leaders
There was no overall change in the distribution for Nordic women in the past year. But the Nordic Labour Journal’s gender equality barometer shows that there has been a further polarisation between the countries.
Out with the trade union sauna – in with gender equality!
Gender equality in Finnish trade unions might have been lagging behind other Nordic countries. But things are getting better.
ILO report: Big difference in view of working women between Nordics and Eastern Europe
Women in the Nordic countries participate in the labour market to a greater degree than in any other country, and there are many good examples to be found here. But some glass ceilings remain unbroken, concluded the conference “Global Dialogue on Gender in the World of Work” which was held in Helsinki in late November.
Nordic countries are trailblazers, but few women reach top positions
Women in the Nordic countries participate in the labour market to a greater degree than in any other country. But some glass ceilings remain unbroken, concluded the conference “Global Dialogue on Gender in the World of Work” which was held in Helsinki in late November.
Nordic men blind to women’s working life challenges
The Nordic countries stand out with higher levels of well-being than anywhere else in the world, explained by the fact that women are expected to be active in the labour market and make an important contribution to household income. Yet men do not understand that women are facing a harder time in the labour market than themselves.
Where gender equality fits into the ILO’s future of work
How do you close the pay gap and create a less gender-divided labour market? The answer does not lie in the past. Gender divisions in the Nordic labour markets have been nearly static since the 1970s and global data from the ILO shows shockingly little movement. So what is needed? That is what the discussion about gender equality in the future labour market is about. Does Iceland have the solution?
Gender equality important to parents and generals alike
Last year Denmark got its first female leader for the confederation of trade unions, and Norway got its first female chief justice of the supreme court. There are still a few positions of power not yet held by a woman among the 24 which the Nordic Labour Journal measures. But the only position never held by a woman in any Nordic country is commander-in-chief.
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