1. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 1 Osasto\nimi\pvm Riitta Martikainen Ministerial Counsellor, Gender Equality Affairs Gender Equality Unit Gender Equality in Finland 6.3.2008 Barcelona, Catalunya

2. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 2 Osasto\nimi\pvm Government´s gender equality policy The Government as a whole is responsible for promoting gender equality. Minister of Culture and Sports has gender equality issues in his portfolio Female majority in the government: 20 ministers, 11 women and 9 men

3. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 3 Osasto\nimi\pvm Goals of the gender equality policy equal pay for men and women advancement of women’s careers and promotion of women into managerial positions mainstreaming of the gender perspective in all policies reduction of gender-based segregation of the labour market reconciliation of work and family life promoting awareness of gender equality in schools Government prepares Action Plan for Gender Equality

4. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 4 Osasto\nimi\pvm Pay differences The pay gap between women and men is about 20 % Women participate in paid work very actively Employment rate for women is 68 % and for men 71 % 19 % of women and 8 % of men work part time 20 % of women and 13 % of men have fixed-term work Average level of education is higher for women than for men, high level of gender segregation

5. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 5 Osasto\nimi\pvm Equal Pay Programme (1) The Government’s goal is to clearly reduce the differences in pay between men and women The Government is committed to the tripartite equal pay programme The Equal Pay Programme started in 2006 All the central labour market central organisations are involved in the programme

6. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 6 Osasto\nimi\pvm Equal Pay Programme (2) Main aim of the programme is to narrow the pay gap from 20 % to 15 % by the year 2015 Other objectives are related to: payroll systems segregation of the labour market collective agreements family and work women’s career advancement

7. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 7 Osasto\nimi\pvm The Act on Equality between Women and Men Entry in 1987, revised and amended several times Objectives of the act To prevent direct and indirect discrimination based on gender To promote equality between women and men To improve the status of women, particularly in working life

8. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 8 Osasto\nimi\pvm More about the Equality Act all public authorities must promote gender equality as part of their official duties quotas: in Government committees, boards,working groups etc. and in municipal bodies at least 40 % of both men and women no quotas in private companies

9. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 9 Osasto\nimi\pvm Gender Equality Planning at Workplaces The Equality Act obliges all employers to promote gender equality (recruitment, promotion, pay etc.) employers with workforce of 30 or more are required to draw up a gender equality plan pay survey must be done as part of the equality plan information on the pay of women and men employed by an employer if pay discrimination is found, it must be rectified

10. MINISTRY OF SOCIAL AFFAIRS AND HEALTH 10 Osasto\nimi\pvm Female leadership one of focuses of the Governments gender Equality Policy less than tenth of the chief executive officers (CEO)are women less than fourth of corporate board members are women new research results: company led by a female CEO is on average about 10 % more profitable the share of female board members has a similar positive impact