ABSTRACT
The Nordic countries are often looked upon as pioneers in the promotion of equal opportunities for women and men. Among the 163 countries included in the genderrelated development indexes of the UN Human Development Report, all the Nordic countries range at the very top. 2 This leading position in gender equality is partly related to the strong representation of women among the political elites, as Sweden, Norway, Finland and Denmark are actually the first four countries in the world in terms of the proportion of female national parliamentarians, and among the top six for the percentage of women government ministers. Moreover, Nordic women have a higher participation in education and the labour market than women of most other countries. As a consequence, Nordic women have gained an increasingly independent position in society and the economy over recent decades. The gender-sensitive public policies of the region are generally given the credit for women’s relatively independent economic position. These policies include the provision of social services relieving women of some of their care responsibilities, and the integration of women and mothers into the labour market and political system.
