Nordic seminar highlights equal opportunities from men's perspective

On 27-28 October 2001, the Nordic Council of Ministers organised a seminar in Copenhagen, intended for politicians, social partners and researchers, in order to review men's opportunities and obstacles in the development of equality in working life. The main message was to highlight men's equal opportunities in terms of reconciliation of work and family life.

On 27-28 October 2001, the Nordic Council of Ministers organised a seminar on equal opportunities in Copenhagen, entitled 'Men can do it - working life and gender equality' ('Menn kan - Arbeidsliv og Likestilling'). The Nordic Council of Ministers is the forum for intergovernmental cooperation between the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). The seminar was based on the report of a project entitled Can men do it? Men and gender equality in working life ('Kan Menn? Menn og Likestilling i Arbeidslivet'), which was published in February 2001. The background to the report lay in a tripartite Nordic working group established in 1999, with the aim of preparing an 'ideas document' on equal opportunities as they relate to men.

The October 2001 event was intended for politicians, social partners, public authorities and researchers from the Nordic countries. One of the main purposes of the conference was to generate discussion and strategies to improve men’s options for combining work and family. The discussion looked at opportunities and obstacles placed in the way of men from the perspective of working life and equality. The idea was to expand the political dialogue about men, equality and work among politicians, employers and trade unionists and to develop a complete equality policy that is beneficial for both men and women.

Content of the report

The project report at the centre of debate at the seminar suggests how the public authorities, social partners and researchers can cooperate in various fields. They are said to have responsibility for ensuring that men can carry out concrete actions to influence their own possibilities of benefiting from active labour policies. In the report, the following viewpoints are examined in detail:

• equality is a field of relations between people, and the issue concerns both genders;

• sex discrimination concerns men, too;

• men and men's cultures in working life have more importance and involve more 'human quality factors' than are presented in the picture generally given; and

• there should be a practical perspective on equality, whereby changes in attitudes can be monitored through concrete measures.

The report proposed three fields in which the social partners could exert influence:

• the issue of men and equality should be taken into consideration in the social partners' daily activities (through launching discussions, increasing information and supporting research);

• both positive and negative discrimination concerning men should be taken into account; and

• a cooperation structure between social partners should be created, in order to strengthen the process.

Occupational segregation is problematic

The Danish Minister of Labour, Ove Hygum, opened the seminar. He considered it important that a start had been made in terms of research on men's issues. The main focus of his opening speech was on gender occupational segregation in the Nordic countries. Such segregation has resulted, among other outcomes, in better childcare systems in female-dominated jobs. The division of occupations on a gender basis has also led to wage differentiation.

According to the minister, employers nowadays want a flexible workforce - for example, they may desire that employees should continue their working day after kindergarten hours, which causes childcare problems. Company values are being elevated to a more central role. The goal should be equality in working life for both men and women, which would benefit the whole society.

Tom Saxén of the Nordic Trade Union Council (Nordens Faglige Samorganisasjon, NFS) described the birth and starting points of the tripartite working group on men and equality. He emphasised the importance of equality issues for the Nordic social partners, and stated that the tripartite principle is highlighted in Nordic cooperation, leading to the emergence of new ideas.

Søren Christensen, general secretary of the Nordic Council of Ministers, stressed the importance of equality for the benefit of society as a whole. In his view, this will lead to a more democratic society. He saw active participation as important, and described voluntary organisations as having an especially significant role. The goals of the Council in the gender equality area are currently to promote equality on three points:

• gender and equality perspectives in Nordic economic policy;

• men and gender equality; and

• women's equality, with freedom from violence.

According to Mr Christensen, both sexes want the right to parental leave, but economic problems are often a barrier. Parental leave benefits are often created for women, to a large extent. Severe contradictions exist between labour market expectations and children's needs. Most men would like to stay at home during the child's first year, and a better balance is needed in order to reconcile work and family life.

Øystein Gullvåg Holter, a researcher at the Norwegian Work Research Institute (Arbeidsforskningsinstituttet), presented in more detail the findings of the project report. According to the research, there are many similarities in the situation of men in the various Nordic countries. An exception is Iceland, whose new parental leave legislation (see below) makes it the front-runner among these nations. He was interested to note the strong support among Icelandic people concerning the use of parental leave by men. In his view, a process of cultural change has started in the Nordic countries and top managers have started to change their attitudes regarding such leave. This requires the creation of new career opportunities which are not endangered by parenthood. In closing, Mr Holter stressed the importance of tripartism and Nordic cooperation as an example for the rest of the world: 'the whole world is watching.'

The diversity director of Ford Europe, Surinder Sharma, presented the case of Ford. This company has established 'diversity councils' in which issues concerning parenthood have been dealt with. There has been an endeavour to break up occupational segregation and more women have been hired by the company. Greater flexibility is aimed at meeting the needs of employees' lives both inside and outside working hours.

The 'extreme' position of men

Anne Knudsen, the chief editor of Denmark' Weekendavisen magazine, spoke of the 'extreme sex – men at the bottom and top'. She presented the findings of an EU survey, from which it was apparent that men are well represented at the top and the bottom of society. For example, men fall ill more, die younger and are more likely to work in dangerous jobs, but still have better wages. Ms Knudsen also stated that the jobs without any skill requirements will disappear, and that this will be a particular problem for boys, who are more likely to drop out of education as young as 16.

As a cultural anthropologist, Ms Knudsen saw culture as the reason for these differences between men and women, with the sexes living as the predominant culture expects. According to Ms Knudsen, a society has now been created in which men are trying to find their place. She also stressed the importance of biological differences, stating that men and women have different attributes and gifts. As an example, she cited women's spatial perceptive skills, which are thought to be inferior to men's, while women are thought to be better at perceiving the 'whole picture' better than men, who tend to be able to concentrate only on one thing at a time.

The 'progressive' model of Iceland

The Icelandic Ministry of Fisheries, Árni M. Mathiesen, presented his country's new Act on parental leave. Previously, parental leave entitlement stood at six months and men did not have the right to pay during their leave. Now, the leave is being lengthened to nine months, of which three months are reserved for the mother and three for the father. These leave quotas for each parent cannot be changed. After the first six months (three months each for the mother and father), the last three months can be used by either the mother or the father, or alternately. The leave can be taken until the child reaches 18 months of age. The financing takes place through a 'parental leave foundation' and the compensation during leave is 80% of the parent's wage. The reform is being introduced in stages, so that fathers obtained their first month of leave entitlement at the turn of 2001, while the next month will be granted in 2002 and the third in 2003.

About 80%-90% of fathers now use their right to leave, and they are satisfied with the situation, according to Mr Mathiesen. However, he also outlined also some criticisms that have been made of the system:

• it is easy to abuse the rights;

• the new-born child receives too much attention, to the detriment of the family as a whole; and

• it is expensive.

The Swedish situation

Lars Bäck, political advisor to the Swedish agriculture and equality minister, Margareta Winberg, presented the Swedish situation in more detail. For example, according to statistics, women's wages are about 90% of men's on average, while the highest salaries go to men in professions requiring academic qualifications. The measures taken by Sweden in order to help improve gender equality include:

• tightened equality legislation;

• a maximum fee for childcare;

• extended parental insurance;

• development of the school, care and health system; and

• legislation on parental leave.

The problem, according to Mr Bäck, is how to link together the welfare state, working life (involving the social partners) and private life (parenthood).

The case of Finland

In Finland, a tripartite working group considering reforms to the parental leave system suggested in November 2001 that paternity leave should be lengthened from 18 to 25 days. At present, a father has the right to take paternity leave during the maternity or parental leave period. The maternity leave period is at present 105 days and the parental leave period, when either the mother or the father can stay at home, is 158 days. It is also proposed that parents should be able to take their parental leave on a part-time basis. Both parents could thus be in part-time work and on partial parental leave at the same time. It is planned that the proposals should come into force from the beginning of 2003.

The purpose of the proposed reforms is to provide men, especially, with better opportunities to look after their new-born children. From the perspective of families, the obstacles to making use of present family leave rights are identified as economic reasons, the challenges of working life and increased cost awareness at the workplace (FI0111101N).

Panel discussion

The seminar ended with a panel discussion led by Tomas Wetterberg, an expert from the equality unit of Sweden's Department of Trade and Industry.

According to Sven M Christensen, the president of the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (Akademidernes Centralorganisation, AC), women use working-life flexibility more for the family's benefit, while men use it to help with their career. He stated that present-day working life is demanding, and that employers demand extra input if an employee is to have the chance of a full-time job.

Ragnwi Marcelind from the Swedish Christian Democratic Party (Kristdemokraterna) stated the view that men are 'coddled' too much. In her opinion, women should fight more for their rights.

The director of the Confederation of Norwegian Business and Industry (Næringslivets Hovedorganisation, NHO), Kristian Skjølaas, supported the idea of reconciling work and family life - a task he sees as very challenging. In his view, central social partner organisations should agree on the overall guidelines in this area, but the local level must have the chance to make adaptations. He also raised the question of whether a reorganisation of collective agreements would be necessary.

The vice-president of the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (Landsorganisasjonen i Norge, LO), Finn Erik Thoresen, demanded equal opportunities for all. He considered the breakdown of segregation important and stated that equal pay should be the goal. In order to achieve this equality, 'structural pressure' is needed.

The representatives of the social partners also discussed the importance of gender equality legislation. According to Mr Skjølaas, there is a need to change legislation so that agreements at the local level are possible. Mr Thoresen also stressed the importance of legislation. According to Mr Christensen, legislation will ensure that equality will be implemented. The employers' representatives were concerned about whether men would use increased free time for the family's benefit and for the care of children, or whether it would be a mere addition to other holidays and a chance for 'elk-hunting'. They were also worried about the costs.

Mr Skjølaas highlighted the needs of other people besides parents. The increased number of single people would need more attention: for instance, 55% of Oslo's inhabitants live alone. Ms Marcelind wondered why Swedish men do not use their right to parental leave. According to Niels Ulrik Sørensen, a researcher at Roskilde University, the idea of men using extra time off for 'elk-hunting' represents stigmatisation, which does not necessarily have any grounds.

Mr Thoresen expressed the opinion that the implementation of equality would result in the availability of new skills, which would benefit economic life, too. Mr Skjølaas stressed freedom of choice. He also mentioned possible problems which could be linked to the break-up of occupational segregation. Young men who want to work in kindergartens, for example, are readily labelled as paedophiles nowadays.

Commentary

Equality has already long been an important area for the development of working life. Until now, equality for women has been promoted strongly at the workplace. Now the 'men's angle', too, is gaining a foothold. Men too should have the opportunity to participate in childcare. Tightening economic competition and the pace of working life seem to set clear limits for the development of different types of leave. Parents often do not have a real opportunity to leave working life for a long time. This was clearly indicated at the October seminar. The reconcilation of work and family life seems to become more difficult all the time. In addition, the increasing number of single people was discussed at the seminar. These constitute an ideal workforce in the present labour market.

Political rhetoric and practice seem to diverge more and more. Through legislation and collective agreements, it is possible to provide norms for the use of family leave. However, it is often difficult for people to demands their rights, because they are afraid of losing their jobs. It seems that the good employers take care of their personnel, also where family leave is concerned - even exceeding the legal or agreed standards. However, activities at workplace level are being steered increasingly by the markets and the role of norms can only be marginal. (Juha Hietanen, Ministry of Labour)