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In Focus

Gender equality barometer 2025

Gender equality barometer 2025

Gender equality in the top positions of power in the Nordic region in 2025 remains at a low level in NLJ’s gender equality barometer. Women get 68 points – 100 points mean full equality. But it would be even worse if Iceland did not for the first time in history elect both a female prime minister and a female president.

Gender equality barometer 2025 - Read More…

Iceland: Equality must be fought in every sector

Iceland: Equality must be fought in every sector

In Iceland, women are now in a majority in the government coalition, and all three government party leaders are women. Many women also hold major public positions. In general, Iceland is considered one of the most gender-equal countries in the world. Yet despite the good progress, experts say that in many areas, Iceland is a long way from reaching equality.

Iceland: Equality must be fought in every sector - Read More…

Boyhood researcher: "We need to exercise our reading muscle"

Boyhood researcher: "We need to exercise our reading muscle"

There is still work to be done to make Finnish schools more gender equal. An ambitious gender equality programme is needed, believes the Finnish boyhood researcher Harry Lunabba. Both boys and girls would benefit from it. Falling PISA literacy scores can have long-term consequences for pupils.

Boyhood researcher: "We need to exercise our reading muscle" - Read More…

Sweden: Gender gap widens in education, economically and politically

Sweden: Gender gap widens in education, economically and politically

Women are significantly more represented in higher education, especially in rural areas - a trend that is repeated in all Nordic countries. It has given many women a better life with higher employment levels and wages. However, the development also shows that men are falling behind.

Sweden: Gender gap widens in education, economically and politically - Read More…

Nordic maritime sector sets sail towards greater gender equality

Nordic maritime sector sets sail towards greater gender equality

Men still dominate the maritime industry. In certain onboard professions, women are almost absent. Creating a secure working environment for everyone, regardless of gender, is crucial to make the industry more equal, argue the initiators of the Nordic REDO Lookout project.

Nordic maritime sector sets sail towards greater gender equality - Read More…

Equality under pressure – how the Nordics are fighting back

Equality under pressure – how the Nordics are fighting back

More than 50 years after the cooperation on gender equality began, the Nordics are doubling down on the promise to ensure that the region will continue to lead the way in the fight for equality and inclusion.

Equality under pressure – how the Nordics are fighting back - Read More…

Norwegian youths set up company to help other youths

Norwegian youths set up company to help other youths

Ungt entreprenørskap – a Norwegian entrepreneurship education programme – helps youths access the labour market. At the youth company RaskJobb, five 17-year-olds want to show that young people can and want to work.

Norwegian youths set up company to help other youths - Read More…

Finland’s Minister of Cooperation: Put young people first in difficult times

Finland’s Minister of Cooperation: Put young people first in difficult times

A father of five children, young people and education are among Minister of Cooperation Anders Adlercreutz’s areas of expertise. These are also among the focus areas for the Nordic countries in the coming year.

Finland’s Minister of Cooperation: Put young people first in difficult times - Read More…

Swedish Emilia got a job thanks to Youth Power 2.0

Swedish Emilia got a job thanks to Youth Power 2.0

Despite a growing business sector, many young people were long-term unemployed in Åstorp in southern Sweden in the spring of 2024. Now, new job opportunities have been created through building relations with both private and municipal employers. The motto is: Everyone must get a chance.

Swedish Emilia got a job thanks to Youth Power 2.0 - Read More…

Danish students turn entrepreneurs to make a difference

Danish students turn entrepreneurs to make a difference

An increasing number of students at Aarhus University choose entrepreneurship to solve important social challenges. One of them is medical doctor Christina Gravgaard Andersen, who has set up her own company while studying.

Danish students turn entrepreneurs to make a difference - Read More…

Nordic youth on what is needed to give them faith in the future

Nordic youth on what is needed to give them faith in the future

Many young people in the Nordics have a dim view of the future. Some struggle with mental health, remain outside education and work, and many worry a lot about their own generation. The Nordic Labour Journal has asked what they think is needed to create a brighter future.

Nordic youth on what is needed to give them faith in the future - Read More…

Why Swedish countryside youths are ahead in the labour market

Why Swedish countryside youths are ahead in the labour market

In Sweden, fewer young people from the countryside go on to university or other higher education compared with city youths. Yet more young people in rural areas – and especially men – start working earlier than their peers in towns and metropolitan areas. Many also work while studying.

Why Swedish countryside youths are ahead in the labour market - Read More…

Early intervention helps Icelandic youth back on their feet

Early intervention helps Icelandic youth back on their feet

In southern Iceland, a youth centre is working closely with other municipal agencies to ensure young people do not slip through the cracks on their journey to further education or the labour market.

Early intervention helps Icelandic youth back on their feet - Read More…

Åland's government open for major offshore wind projects

Åland's government open for major offshore wind projects

“Åland must be an active climate and sustainability player and for us it is natural to exploit the wind as a resource. We don’t really have much else,” says Camilla Gunell, Minister for Infrastructure and Climate of the government that wants to open up for large-scale offshore wind power in Åland’s waters.

Åland's government open for major offshore wind projects - Read More…

In Norway, fire extinguishers have entered the circular economy

In Norway, fire extinguishers have entered the circular economy

Each year, millions of fire extinguishers that could have been reused are thrown out. At “Slåkkefabrikken” outdated extinguishers get a new lease of life. The circular economy is one of the tools used to reach climate goals. Still, the Nordic countries are lagging behind the rest of Europe.

In Norway, fire extinguishers have entered the circular economy - Read More…

More investments needed for Norwegian battery production to fuel the green transition

More investments needed for Norwegian battery production to fuel the green transition

If the three Nordic countries Finland, Sweden and Norway worked together, they could become a major supplier of batteries and fuel the green transition, but professor Odne Stokke Burhei believes this requires a much greater willingness to invest than we have seen so far.

More investments needed for Norwegian battery production to fuel the green transition - Read More…

Five years left for Nordics to reach aim of being world’s greenest region

Five years left for Nordics to reach aim of being world’s greenest region

For five years, the Nordic Council of Ministers has been working with a vision to make the Nordics “the world’s most sustainable and integrated region”. This work has now reached its halfway point. Only five more years remain before the 2030 deadline.

Five years left for Nordics to reach aim of being world’s greenest region - Read More…

Urban women in Denmark want to reform agriculture

Urban women in Denmark want to reform agriculture

Women from urban areas make up a majority of students in the Natural Resources bachelor’s programme at Denmark’s largest scientific research and educational institution, KU Science. The female students want to work towards healthier food systems, and job opportunities are good.

Urban women in Denmark want to reform agriculture - Read More…

Special edition: AFI at 60

Special edition: AFI at 60

The Work Research Institute AFI in Oslo is 60 years old this year. It has been celebrated by a conference which presented some of the projects AFI researchers are currently working on. Sick leave is a hot political potato in Norway, and what is the true impact of working from home? The Nordic Labour Journal was there when State Secretary Per Olav Skurdal Hopsø openede the cionference and we have also interviewed AFI Director Elisabeth Nørgaard.

Special edition: AFI at 60 - Read More…

The joys of WFH versus the pressure of always answering emails

The joys of WFH versus the pressure of always answering emails

More than half of Norwegian employees have the opportunity to work from home, any time of day or night. But at what price? AFI researchers are looking at how the increased use of home offices impacts the work-life balance.

The joys of WFH versus the pressure of always answering emails - Read More…

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