In Focus
Norway finally joins dual citizenship club
Norway opened up for dual citizenship on 1 January 2020, not only as the last of the Nordics but as the last country in Europe. Ironically, not long after that, the borders closed because of the corona crisis.
Hospital wants to double the number of healthcare assistants
Will hiring more health care assistants make hospitals more efficient? Nurses at St. Olavs Hospital in Trondheim, Norway, welcome the hospital management’s aim to increase the number of healthcare assistants. They are happy to leave certain working tasks to the assistants, but several conditions must be in place before this can happen.
Gender equality: Finland improves more than any other Nordic country
Denmark moves into pole position as the Nordic Labour Journal publishes the 2020 gender equality barometer. But Finland enjoys the biggest increase of women in positions of power. The result is another shared bottom place with Sweden in the comparison between the five Nordic countries.
Three minutes less unpaid work for Swedish women
We are edging ever so slowly towards equal pay, according to the annual demonstration #lönheladagen (#payallday) which was held in Stockholm’s Sergels Torg. This year the participants made the shape of the time 16:09.
Lipsticks or bulls? Finland has changed after women came to power
There are great expectations linked to the new Finnish government. International media have celebrated Finland, the land of gender equality. Women lead the government and they are also younger than ever. Many also believe the content of politics and its execution change when women are “allowed to participate”.
Confronting sexual harassment at work in Denmark
The social partners and authorities are joining forces to confront widespread harassment in Danish workplaces, particularly sexual and gender-related behaviour which new research shows to hit far more women than men – including in politics and the IT sector.
Less part-time work to secure more “warm hands”
A major and urgent lack of trained social and health care assistants – so-called SOSUs – has led to a heated debate over the widespread use of part-time jobs in Denmark’s social and health care sector.
Swedish assistant nurses want higher status through legal recognition
Assistant nurse is one of the most common professions in Sweden. 180 000 out of a total of 200 000 workers in elderly care are assistant nurses, but unlike their other Nordic colleagues, their profession is not regulated. Making this happen has long been a trade union demand and right now legislation is being prepared which might give them a protected title.
A Monday in the service of the Nordics
Paula Lehtomäki heads the secretariat for the Nordic governments’ official body of cooperation. Yet she has no lifeguards, she cycles to work and gets on the train to open a conference.
The Nordic Council of Ministers’ vision for 2030
“Now the work begins for real,” says Helle Engslund Krarup, Deputy Chief of Staff at the Secretary General’s office. At the end of an intensive process, the Nordic cooperation has a new vision. But how to execute it, and what must give in order to reach the goals within the same budget? The first answers will come in early February.
Iceland: Paternity leave a boost to men’s identity
The Nordic Gender Effect at Work is one of the Nordic prime ministers’ most important projects for the advancement of gender equality. It is considered to be an important prerequisite for a good labour market and for economic growth.
New profile leaves Nordic traces around the world
The Nordic Region is attractive, with its 27 million citizens over five countries living in peaceful coexistence. We are far from perfect, but perhaps that is what makes us fascinating. The Nordic Council of Ministers tries to look after all this by creating a Nordic brand.
The Nordics: practical and industrious cooperation
At an arrival halls café at Reykjavik airport, researchers Kristin Alsos and Jon Erik Dølvik are sat working. They are waiting for the rest of the group arriving from different Nordic countries before sharing a taxi to Hveragerði, an hour from Keflavik.
"More hard issues should be discussed at the Nordic Council"
Protect democracy, fight fake news and protect biological diversity. These are issues on the agenda for Iceland’s 2020 Presidency of the Nordic Council. Another focus area is to improve knowledge of Nordic languages.
Inspired by TED Talks: Nordic podcast launch in the USA
Nordic Talks is the Nordic Council of Ministers’s own podcast series aimed at highlighting Nordic values to a global audience. The idea is also to create a lasting dialogue with the rest of the world.
Malmö: Police officers are also vulnerable
“When you come home with a black eye after being hit, you are a human being first,” says Malmö’s police chief with ten years frontline experience into the city. Thinking police are trained to deal with the worst possible situations, or even prepared to die, is to put too much belief in a human being’s capability, he says.
Fundamental misinterpretation led to Norwegian legal scandal
It has been called Norway’s worst ever miscarriage of justice. Thousands of people were accused of cheating the benefits system when accepting unemployment allowance and other support while living abroad. It then turned out it was never illegal – as long as it happened within the EEA.
Danish welfare agency wide open for fraudster
Should an employee get a lesser sentence if it is easy to steal from the employer? This issue is currently being debated in the criminal case brought against Danish Britta Nielsen, who stole more than 100 million kroner (over €13m) from her employer, the Danish National Board of Social Services. The money had been allocated to disadvantaged citizens.
Trust in Statistics Sweden hit after incorrect unemployment figures
Swedish unemployment statistics for the past year have been revised. A subcontractor provided numbers that turned out to be wrong, and is now accused of cheating.
Sweden – more generous than what EU law demands
For many years, Swedish authorities considered it to be people’s right to take their so-called guaranteed pension (garantipension) with them if they moved abroad. Yet, a couple of years ago, the EU Court of Justice made it clear that Sweden was not at all obliged to pay the guaranteed pension to people living in other countries.
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