How to increase equality in Norway

From next year Norway increases parental leave to 49 weeks. Yet months of daddy leave and nursery places for all children do not automatically make for a less gender segregated labour market nor does it make the male dominance in top jobs disappear, warns Professor Hege Skjeie, who has been heading the largest report on equality in Norway so far.

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Applause: as Norwegian Government's gender equality action plan is presented in Norway (picture above). To the left: Hege Skjeie, to the right Minster of Equality Inge Marta Thorkildsen

Parental leave split three-ways

Parental leave in Norway is to be divided into three parts, where the mother and father get 14 weeks each after the birth while 18 weeks can be divided between them as they please. This means the daddy quota increases with two weeks compared to today’s system.

The equality report criticises politicians for often going for costly measures which don’t really do much to increase equality. Parental leave costs 16bn Norwegian kroner (€2.16bn) every year.

Still, the report’s most expensive recommendation is also about parental leave. Today the man’s benefit is not based on his won wage, but on how much the woman earns.

The equality report suggests men and women get equal rights, irrespective of how much they work and what with. This would cost nearly 2.8bn Norwegian kroner (€377m) a year.

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How to increase equality in Norway