When commuting becomes an obstacle race
Border obstacles can be instant traps. But they can also emerge much later as you enter retirement or become unemployed. That’s how the Council of Nordic Trade Unions and the Nordic Association describe the problem in a letter to Sweden’s parliament. Similar letters have reached other Nordic parliaments as part of the more or less simultaneous cross-Nordic debate on border obstacles. Comprehensive work on mapping and finding solutions to Nordic border obstacles has just been completed. Politicians must now make decisions. These are not problems which only concern a small group of people who live along borders, or youths looking for work. Half a million Nordic citizens have either moved to another Nordic country or have been cross border commuting in the past ten years. Nordic Labour Journal takes a close look at the statistics and who the commuters really are.
Valgerður Þórdís Snæbjarnardóttir is among those that have been afflicted by the border obstacles. Despite contributing to Norway’s national insurance fund since 2003, she receives no maternity pay.



