This is in fact the principal feature of our Nordic model: each and every one of us, women and men alike, are responsible for our own subsistence. Nordic legislation has reflected this perception since the 1970s. Taxation is individual, i.e. neither the family nor the household is a tax unit. Retirement pensions and sickness insurance are both linked to the individual. Couples are required to provide for their children, not for each other. At the root of this change is an explicit idea of adult maturity and individual responsibility. There is also a freedom dimension. People are to live together of their own free will and to be linked together as free individuals by their feelings for each other, not by financial expedience or dependence. There is a direct historical link here to those who first claimed the right of girls to an education and the right of women to pursue their own careers. Women’s work contributes a vast amount to the national economy. The increase in living standards witnessed in the Nordic countries in the late 20th century would have been impossible without women in the labor market. Finland, and a short while later, Sweden, were at the forefront. In Finland’s case it was about rebuilding a country ravaged by war, while Sweden was keen to take advantage of a prolonged economic boom. The extensive development of the public sector that distinguishes the Nordic countries is ultimately dependent on policy decisions, but is also linked to women’s participation in working life.
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The many working women in the region generate tax revenue that finances public activities which in turn provide jobs for women. At first, politicians debated whether there was any point in women leaving the home in order to perform similar tasks to men in the labor market. That discussion has long since been settled. The rules concerning specialization and restructuring also apply in the case of traditional women’s work. The demands of gender equality are a further factor: work in the home is to be shared between men and women. As the level of education rises, it has become increasingly important to ensure that educational capital—that of both women and men—is turned to account. Once again, the demands of women are consistent with economic benefit.
Family Life The family is the other flashpoint in the gender equality discourse. Here, too, legislation has been adapted to the fundamental concept of free individuals. It is of no great consequence whether children are born in or out of wedlock. Parents have the same responsibility. Public support to children in the form of child allowances, free schooling, study support and the like is linked to the child and no one else—once again, the individual. Where parenthood is concerned, Nordic society has established clear principles: children are entitled to both of their parents. If the parents live
NORDIC GENDER EQUALIT Y