Equality and Non-discrimination All human resources essential for the Norwegian Welfare State Thea Bull Skarstein Norwegian Ministry of Children, Equality and Social Inclusion 1

My agenda: Why gender balance is essential in labour force participation in Norway Welfare state policies important for citizens’ real freedom of choice Looking back: Norwegian experiences on social involvement and cooperation Family-friendly measures: fathers’ leave and childcare Fair gender representation pays off Challenges ahead 2

Women in the labour market Sustainable societies make use of all available and educated talents from both genders Gender equality always about both genders – never a women’s issue alone 80 % of Norwegian women are working – the fertility rate 1,88 3

The importance of legislation A real freedom of choice: women or men not forced to choose ”either-or”, between family/children or work/careers Any nation, any parliament, must secure a societal platform enabling citizens to realise their potential Gender balance in democratic elected bodies important for raising willingness to legislate on issues of family and worklife reconciliation 4

The Nordic way ”Social trust” and ”radical individualism” – said to be characteristic values in Nordic societies High individual autonomy goes hand in hand with strong state involvement in social matters Interdependency in families minimized through individual taxation of spouses …..also by public care for the elderly, paid parental leave and daycare for all children 5

Solving family-worklife balance issues – the right structures needed Tripartite cooperation between the social partners – 77 years of tripartism in Norway “The National Insurance System” invented in 1966 – before we started exploiting oil in the North Sea Work Environment Act – rights and duties agreed upon Protection of pregnant women, and legislation that guarantees parents the right to return to the same job after leave – is vital 6

Measures for family friendly work-life Father’s quota extended – equal sharing of parental leave 12 weeks of the total allocated period of parental leave are reserved for the father (Photo: Colourbox) 7

Measures for family friendly work life Access to high quality, low cost, day care for all children – important step for working women (Photo: Colourbox) 8

Promoting gender balance in business Before 2003 the large enterprises recruited only 7 per cent women to their boardrooms Legal measures successful tool Today more that 40 per cent of the boardroom positions are held by women 9

Future challenges Basic principle to combine gender equality with comprehensive family and parental provisions But still challenging: to change cultures, to get rid of traditional and harmfull stereotypes of genders Gender equality pays off, the same goes for fighting all kinds of harmful discrimination – all human resources are needed 10