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Title: Gender Equality in Nordic Countries
Essay published by EstefanÃa Lawrance Crespo
Spring Semester 2019
To what extent is there a homogenous Nordic model in terms of gender equality?
The success of the welfare states of the Nordic countries in terms of gender equality is one of the most studied dimensions among academics around the world. Indicators such as the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Gender Inequality Index, the World Economic Forum's Global Gender Gap and the European Union's Gender Equality Index -all of these place the Nordic countries on gender equality at the top of the rankings.
Economic equity and democratic parity
Siim and Borchorst formulated a minimalist theory of a possible Nordic gender equality model as a combination of public policies that promote high levels of participation in political life and paid work (2002: 92).
Following the patterns of the success of the Nordic countries and the theory of Siim and Borchorst, we can find two particularly relevant dimensions: economic equality and democratic parity. These two areas are conclusive when comparing the Nordic European countries with the other countries of Europe through the EU's Gender Equality Index.
According to the theory of Esping-Andersen's (1990, 1999), there are three different welfare state regimes in terms of economic equity.
The liberal model is characterized by limiting the activity of the state and providing basic market services. Whereas the typical social-democratic regime of the northern European countries is integrated into the idea of the welfare state. Finally, the conservative-corporatist model is strongly committed to the values of the traditional family, assigning women to the private sphere of care. These models explain how the Nordic European countries invest large public funds to finance the care of children and the elderly to ensure that women maintain the ability to increase their professional salary and status.
European patterns
There are three Nordic countries that joined the European Union: Sweden (1995), Finland (1995) and Denmark (1973). While two other Nordic countries (Norway and Iceland) decided to stay out of this but created links through the European Economic Area (EEA) agreement.
Through descriptive statistics, we can measure the difference between gender in the two previously mentioned dimensions that are determinants to verify if there is a Nordic model. These dimensions are decisive in distinguishing a pattern from the Nordic countries of the EU compared to the other European countries.
Looking at the statistics of the Gender Equality Index of 2012, we found that countries with social democratic models have a higher score in gender equality, emphasizing democratic parity, while in the field of money the difference between the different models is surprisingly small. Following the theory of Esping-Andersens (1990,1999) on the typology of states, the Nordic countries belong to the social democratic model, the conservative-corporatist model corresponds to Germany, France and Italy and to the liberal welfare state model the UK and Ireland.
Nordic variation in our two dimensions
The Nordic Council of Ministers has developed indicators on the condition of gender equality in the Nordic region. As we said previously, the inclusion of women in the labour market has increased quickly since the 1960s in the region. In the area of work, numerous researchers have identified a pattern called "welfare-state paradox" (Bikerlund & Sandnes 2003, Mandel & Semyonov 2006) that determines that in the Nordic countries the labour market is more segregated by gender than other conservative states. Researchers have come to the conclusion that these results are influenced by the fact that in some countries care work is unpaid work, traditionally done by the women of the family.
Regarding democratic parity, the Nordic countries are known worldwide for having the highest scores of democratic quality. At the same time, they also have some of the highest female political representation rates (Karvonen & Selle 1995) but they are not the leaders since countries such as Bolivia, Cuba or Rwanda have a higher percentage than Sweden of female political representatives according to the International ranking Parliamentary Union in 2016. The indicator of democratic parity shows differences within the Nordic countries, for example, Finland and Sweden have an extensive and stable female political representation while in Iceland it has increased strongly in recent years.
We have reviewed the data on the privileged situation of the Nordic countries in terms of gender equality but, how did these positive results come about? Through public policies.
Policies on economic equity
All the Nordic countries agree in combining strong protection in legislation against gender discrimination and the continual promotion of equality by employers and public authorities. Common patterns in all Nordic countries are generous parental leave schemes with important differences depending on the country, for example, Sweden has the most flexible scheme since parental leave can be used until the child turns 12 years old. Public subsidies for child care as a measure of work-life balance is considered essential to support women's employment. Over time there has been an increase in spending on these public policies calling this policy profile "the egalitarian horizon" (Mahon 2002: 346-350).
Policies on democratic parity
Norway stands out with one of the most powerful emphases on the formulation and implementation of gender quota policies to promote democratic parity (Teigen 2011). Public policies such as zipper systems on party lists or the gender quotas in the company boards are role models for other European countries. But there are differences in this area as well, among the Nordic countries as for example in Finland there is a great tradition of gender balance in the area of political decision-making without the need for voluntary quotas.
Conclusion
Through the different index’s of gender equality, it is proven that the Nordic countries have unprecedented success in this area within the EU. But we do not find a common model within the Nordic region since there are important variations within each country. There are a series of patterns that characterize these countries, such as good development of public policies of work-family balance and high levels of subsidies for parental and childcare benefits. But even within this pattern, Finland seems to follow its own path with the measure of "cash for care benefit". In the area of democratic parity, there is no common Nordic model either, since the tradition and culture of each country determine its performance. Finally, it makes sense to speak of a common success in the Nordic region, however, we can not talk about a common set of policies.
Bibliography
Knutsen, O. The Nordic models in political science (pp. 125-147).
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