In Nordic countries, women have the best chances for a career. Iceland in particular promotes women in the labor market. This comes from a study by the British legal services provider Claims out. The experts analyzed women’s income and advancement opportunities and created a ranking. To do this, they evaluated data from the World Economic Forum. The result: The Nordic countries Iceland, Finland and Norway take the first places – Germany follows in 15th place. According to experts, the reason for the differences lies in the family policies of the respective countries.
Because the labor market becomes more unfair for women as soon as they become mothers. They are then more likely to work part-time, earn less and do more unpaid care work than men. “The Scandinavian countries began expanding daycare places and introducing a type of parental allowance many years earlier than Germany,” says Katharina Wrohlich from the German Institute for Economic Research. In Iceland, each parent is allocated six months of parental leave. In addition, parental allowance can be twice as high as in Germany.
In addition, the political culture is different: In Iceland, women have repeatedly fought and protested for equal rights. Today they earn around 40,500 euros gross per year – twice as much as in Greece. Almost half of Iceland’s parliament is made up of women. In 1980, Icelanders became the first country in the world to elect a female prime minister, Vigdís Finnbogadóttir. Pay equality is also particularly pronounced in Iceland. Since 2018, unequal pay between men and women has been prohibited by law. The country also promotes women in leadership positions – 40 percent of women must be on the boards of large companies.
Finland takes second place in the ranking. Here the employment rate of women exceeds that of men. It is 77 percent. Experts praise Norway in third place for its career opportunities for women and the protection of workers’ rights. Child care is also well developed there. Sweden takes fourth place, where 58 percent of university graduates are female and there are strict measures against sexual harassment. There is a high level of pay equality in all countries and many women work in politics. “The look into the future is optimistic,” says Claims, “the impulses from Scandinavia will hopefully bring about a global change towards an inclusive and diverse labor market.”
Germany ranks 15th in the study. In this country it is a typical pattern for mothers to switch to part-time work and then stay there. “However, you don’t have a career working part-time and your wages don’t increase anymore,” says Wrohlich. This exacerbates inequalities in the labor market.
Politicians must create financial incentives for the equal distribution of paid and care work, says Wrohlich. Parental allowance could be reformed so that, as in Iceland, it is worthwhile for both parents to stay at home for a few months. Companies could also accommodate mothers with flexible working hours and locations. They could also encourage women to increase their working hours again.