Although the gender gap has narrowed slightly over time, there are still large differences between different professions and sectors. Comparing statistics on pay and gender can illustrate gender inequality in salary setting, but all Nordic countries have their own specific challenges and shortcomings when it comes to national statistics. This affects the ability to compare salaries between occupations of equal value.

It is already known that women and men are paid differently for equal work, but women and men also work in different occupations with different pay levels. According to an EU directive, it should be possible to compare pay levels between different works if they are of equal value, i.e. have the same requirements. However, such comparisons have been carried out sparingly and have not yet led to a reduction in the pay gap.

On behalf of the Nordic Council of Ministers, the second report in a series of three is now published.  It is hoped that the report will make an important contribution to efforts to reduce the gender pay gap in the Nordic region. The report presents a study of how available official statistics can be used to analyse pay differences between women and men in work of equal value at national level in Finland, Norway and Sweden. Recommendations from the study indicate the basic requirements that national statistics would need to fulfil and which statistics should be available for analyses on gender and pay for work of equal value at national level.

These conditions can have serious consequences for LGBTI people’s finances, quality of life and health. Particularly vulnerable groups include young LGBTI people, transgender people and LGBTI people with ethnic minority backgrounds.

The seminar will build on existing Nordic knowledge, providing a comprehensive picture of the current situation. Programme participants will share insights from research, policy and practice. The aim is to bring together experts and key actors in the field from across the region, provide an opportunity to share knowledge, enable dialogue and enhance Nordic co-operation on LGBTI people’s working life conditions. 

Please mark 23 May in your calendar and register here. A detailed programme will be sent out later.

The seminar is implemented by Nordic Information on Gender, NIKK, in cooperation with The Nordic Council of Ministers and LGBT+ Danmark.

Target group

The seminar’s target group is broad and includes representatives from relevant ministries/departments, employers’ organisations, trade unions, civil society, equality bodies, authorities and other stakeholders working strategically with inclusion and diversity in working life. 

PROGRAMME

Date and time: 23 May, 9-12
Location: Nordens hus, Ved Stranden 18, Copenhagen

8.30 Registration and coffee

9.00 Introduction to the day 
Moderator Andreas Nielsen, Senior Advisor, Nordic Council of Ministers

9.10 Presentation: LGBTI people’s working life conditions in the Nordic region English
Susanna Young Håkansson, Analyst, Nordic Information on Gender

9.45 Questions 

10.00 Break 

10.20 Nordic Perspectives: What can different sectors do? English
Martin Reichhardt, Associate Director of Strategy at ALK (former DEI leader at Boston Consulting Group)(DK), Daniel Hjalmarsson, Strategist, the Union for Professionals, Akademikerförbundet SSR, (SE) Nora Marie Haune Bornø, Senior Advisor, the Equality and Anti-Discrimination Ombud (NO)

11.10 Break

11.20 Strategy and Action: Ways to Move Forward
Susanne Branner Jespersen, Head of Secretariat, LGBT+ Denmark, Mads Samsing, Vice chairman, HK Denmark, Tina Christensen, Vice chairman, 3F, Denmark

Language: Danish, but with parts in English. 

The conference was based on the knowledge review ‘Trans people’s working life conditions in the Nordic region’, published by NIKK in spring 2024. The knowledge review compiles results from Nordic studies, and the overall picture shows that trans people* face particular obstacles in their working lives. Discrimination  and poor treatment affect recruitment processes as well as the work environment and opportunities for career development, which has a concrete impact, not least on trans people’s finances. 

During the conference, knowledge and experiences were shared from research, politics, authorities, labour market actors and civil society organisations. The responsibility of employers and trade unions was particularly emphasised. Discrimination against transgender people is prohibited in all Nordic countries, but it still continues. This is shown, for example, in the study ‘Hiring Discrimination Against Transgender People: Evidence from a Field Experiment’, presented during the conference in Stockholm. 

“Discrimination is not just a perception but a measurable, real problem that affects trans people” said Ali Ahmed, researcher at Linköping University, and initiator of the study.

Several of the conference speakers emphasised the need for action in the Nordic countries to ensure compliance with discrimination laws. For example, the need for training for recruiters on how to avoid discrimination was highlighted. While trans people are excluded from the labour market, there are also problems in the workplace. During the conference, several recent reports and guides were presented that offer guidance for employers. 

Experts also emphasised the need to tackle disinformation about transgender people, negative stereotypes that also find their way into the workplace.

Working life does not happen in a vacuum, but is of course influenced by what happens in the surrounding society”, said conference moderators El Häkkinen and Ugla Stefanía Kristjönudóttir.

In the publication ‘A better working life for transgender people’ you can find out more about the conference, which was organised by NIKK.

* Being transgender means that your gender identity does not correspond to the sex you were assigned at birth.

A better working life for trans people

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Download and print the publication (PDF)

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In 2024, Sweden held the Presidency of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The year has been characterised by both retrospection and serious efforts for the future. The 50th anniversary of Nordic gender equality co-operation has been celebrated with an anniversary publication. It features interviews with eight people who have all followed developments from 1974 to the present day, in different roles and geographical contexts. The interviewees emphasise that in many respects we live in a completely new world, where almost no one still questions if fathers can care for their children as well as mothers, and where women now hold positions of power.

“There are many things to celebrate when we look at the progress made over the last five decades in terms of gender equality and equal rights for LGBTI people. But at the same time, it is important that we do not take progress for granted, that we do not sit back and feel satisfied or believe that the fight is over. We must continue to defend these rights, and in this context the Nordic Region has a very important task to stand up for gender equality and equal rights. These rights and freedoms must apply to everyone: women, girls, boys, men, or regardless of gender identity or gender expression,” says Sweden’s Minister for Gender Equality and Working Life, Paulina Brandberg, who has led the work of the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI this year.

New five-year co-operation programme

Although much has happened in the field of gender equality over the past 50 years, challenges remain. At the end of 2024, the Nordic Council of Ministers launched a new programme of co-operation in the field of gender equality and LGBTI, setting new targets for 2025-2030.

The Nordic co-operation programme highlights, among other things, the need for further efforts to combat gender-based and sexual violence. The same programme also highlights the importance of continuing to work against discrimination and promote gender equality in the labour market. Inequality in health, wealth and quality of life is also highlighted as an area where the Nordic countries need to concentrate their efforts. One goal is for healthcare professionals to have better knowledge in the area of LGBTI care, to ensure that all citizens in the Nordic Region have access to equal and inclusive healthcare services.

Focus on conditions for transgender people in the labour market

One issue raised during the Swedish Presidency in 2024 was the situation for transgender people in the labour market. A Nordic knowledge review was published in the spring, summarising the results of several national studies. The review shows that prejudice and poor treatment affect recruitment processes as well as working environments and opportunities for career development, with major consequences for the lives and finances of transgender people.

In autumn 2024, the knowledge review was followed up with a conference in Stockholm. It brought together politicians and representatives from employers, trade unions and organisations. Over a full day, the knowledge was expanded on and the participants discussed measures that can help give more transgender people access to the labour market and workplaces that do not discriminate or harass.

Paulina Brandberg, Sweden’s Minister for Gender Equality and Working life, opened the conference.

“The conference provided an important arena for various actors to exchange experiences of their efforts to stand up for equal rights for transgender people in working life. It is important that we bring together people working on these issues to inspire and learn from each other,” says Paulina Brandberg.

New pledge from the Nordic governments

During the conference on working conditions for transgender people, several speakers reiterated that there is growing resistance to transgender people’s rights. This was linked to a general hardening of tone towards work for gender equality and equal rights, both in the Nordic Region and in other countries.

The growing global opposition to gender equality and the rights of women and girls and LGBTI people has also been recognised by the Nordic governments. At the end of the Swedish Presidency, the Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality and LGBTI adopted the joint declaration and programme Pushing for Progress. The declaration and associated three-year programme for 2025-2027 promises that the Nordic governments will defend the progress that has been made in the field of gender equality and LGBTI and push for new reforms. The Nordic Council of Ministers is allocating a total of DKK 10 million to strengthen global efforts to promote gender equality and equal rights for all. In connection with the signing of the declaration, the Nordic Council of Ministers announced that it is entering into co-operation with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation as a strategic partner in the work.

“We are convinced that solutions to global challenges lie in co-operation with others who are also driving development,” says Paulina Brandberg.

Strengthening citizens’ conditions for good health is central to coping with future crises. At the same time, in the welfare sector, health care faces major challenges. Lessons learnt from the pandemic showed that crisis management went hand in hand with the development of knowledge. Research therefore has an important role to play.

How can the Nordic countries develop welfare and welfare services based on important needs both today and in the future? These are complex issues that need to be addressed from several different perspectives, including gender. To stimulate a Nordic discussion, the Nordic Council of Ministers initiated a project that will result in a publication and a seminar. 

Participating researchers and topics

Following an open call, it has now been decided that the following researchers will participate in the project: Paula Mulinari, Department of Social Work, Malmö University, Ann Liljas and Bo Burström, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, John Lapidus, Department of Economy  and Society, University of Gothenburg and Ann-Zofie Duvander and Minna Lundgren, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University.

In a joint publication, the researchers will highlight aspects of welfare health care in the Nordic countries, for good future preparedness. The texts will take the form of essays and highlight the following topics:

• Dreams and reflections on the relationship between time and care among welfare professionals
• Preventing inequalities in health and care of the elderly
• The hidden welfare state
• Vulnerabilities of the war placement strategy

The essays are based on research on care workers and invisible labour, care of older adults in the Nordic countries and care choice reforms, private health insurance, parental leave and childcare, and crisis and risk communication.

The project is administered by NIKK and aims to contribute with knowledge to better understand and analyse challenges and opportunities, in order to make decisions that strengthen crisis preparedness and welfare resilience in the Nordic region, with a focus on healthcare from a gender perspective.

The fund in brief

The fund is aimed at a broad target group and the call is open to various activities and organisations, such as NGOs, public authorities and other public activities, and small and medium-sized enterprises.

The fund finances projects involving at least three different organisations from at least three Nordic countries. The Faroe Islands, Greenland and Åland can constitute one country, and it is also possible to include a Baltic country in an application with at least two Nordic countries. It is possible to include more than three countries.

The funds can be used, for example, to develop common methods, new knowledge or to organise conferences and develop networks.

How to apply

Applications are made through a form available on nikk.no during the application period.

If you are looking for inspiration for projects, you can read about approved projects on our website and in our anniversary publication 10! – Results from 10 years of co-operation through the Nordic Gender Equality Fund.

During the half-century of Nordic co-operation, its forms have both developed and changed, and since 2020 it has also included the rights of LGBTI* people. What has happened in these 50 years? What was the situation in 1974, are there any events of particular significance, and what can be said about Nordic co-operation and its importance for gender equality work in the Nordic Region? 
 
NIKK has interviewed eight people with different backgrounds and knowledge, asked them to reflect on the past years and also to look ahead. The publication does not claim to be comprehensive. It provides a glimpse into historical events through people who share their knowledge, experience and personal reflections. The interviews focus on themes such as family and welfare policy, sexual and reproductive health and rights, the organisation of gender equality policy and the rights of LGBTI people.  

“We hope that this anniversary publication will give those working in the field an opportunity to reflect on the past. To feel proud of the progress that has been made, but also the will and strength to tackle current and future challenges” says Elin Engström, Manager of NIKK.

Over the past 50 years, the hard work of civil society and policy makers has made the Nordic Region one of the most gender-equal regions in the world. But even though gender equality has been prioritised, there are still clear differences in conditions for women, men and LGBTI people in the Nordic Region. Nordic co-operation will therefore continue. Next year, a new co-operation programme in this area will come into force for the period 2025-2030. 

*LGBTI is an acronym for lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and intersex. Although the abbreviations used in the various Nordic countries may differ, LGBTI is the acronym used in all official Nordic co-operation as it is equivalent to what is used in other international organisations.

Read the publication online

As part of the Nordic Council of Ministers‘ cross-sectoral programme Sustainable Living in the Nordic Region 2021-2024, NIKK has carried out the project Sustainability, lifestyles, and consumption from a gender perspective, which resulted in the report Climate, Gender and Consumption. The report highlights, challenges and contributes to insights on gender stereotypes in relation to consumption and lifestyle. It shows, among other things, that ideals of caregiving can be an important key to the green transition.

‘People with caring responsibilities, regardless of gender, also tend to take more responsibility for the climate and make more environment-friendly lifestyle choices,’ said Jimmy Sand, analyst, in a presentation of results from publications by NIKK within the programme Sustainable Living in the Nordic Region, at the Sustainable Living Summit in Stockholm on 15 October (the conference was recorded and is available online).

The conference was the final event of the programme Sustainable Living in the Nordic Region and was organised by Nordregio, the coordinator of the programme since 2023. The conference’s session What impacts young people’s lifestyle choices? highlighted the results of the new report Climate, Youth and Gender – Inclusion strategies for Nordic youth movement, commissioned by Nordregio and written by NIKK. The study highlights challenges at the intersection of climate engagement, gender and other categories, with a particular focus on young people in the Nordic region.

In the context of the work that was done within Sustainable Living in the Nordic Region, NIKK also compiled the results of previous NIKK reports and published the publication Gender Perspectives on Green Jobs in the Nordic Region. The publication highlights how issues of gendered educational choices and gender-segregated labor market, norms on skills and distribution of care work are related to the transition to green jobs.

The programme has had a significant impact on collaboration between several different sectors and cooperation bodies within Nordic cooperation. There has been great interest in the reports produced by NIKK within the programme, and NIKK has presented them in several different contexts, selected here:

• The report Climate, Gender and Consumption – a research overview with a gender perspective on sustainable lifestyles was presented at an interdepartmental seminar in Oslo in September 2022 and launched at an event in Copenhagen in December 2022.
• Presentations of Climate, Gender and Consumption at the Nordic Council Committee for a Sustainable Nordic Region in January 2023, at the Forum for Gender Equality in Malmö in February 2023, and a panel discussion in that were arranged together with the Government of Åland in Mariehamn in April 2023. 
• In May 2023, NIKK presented the report Climate, Gender and Consumption in a at the LOGIN conference in Vilnius, in a panel discussion organised by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ office in Lithuania as part of Nordic Talks.  
• Media attention with, for example, articles in Dagens Nyheter: Women more engaged in the climate issue and in Nya Åland: Stereotypes about male and female complicate climate workand in Dagens ETC: Where are the guys in the fight for the climate? | Dagens ETC.
• Presentation (public lecture) based on the reports Climate, Gender and Consumption and Gender Perspectives on Green Jobs in the Nordic Region, at the Institute of People and Technology, Roskilde University in December 2023. In connection with the presentation, NIKK also participated in an academic seminar with the research group Scandinavian Sustainability Transitions Revisited in an Intersectional Perspective. 
• The report Climate, Youth and Gender – Inclusion strategies for Nordic youth movement was launched in August 2024 at Nordregio’s webinar Where are the boys in climate action?

This year’s call from the Nordic Council of Ministers included an earmarked effort for projects that focus on gender equality in climate action in the Arctic. As a result, the TUNDRA initiative, which aims to strengthen women-led climate technology companies in growth phases, especially in the Arctic region, was granted funding.

Read more about the granted projects here:

New masculinities in the Nordic countries
The aim of the project is to research and compile a report on men’s reactions to diversity initiatives and gender equality practices in Nordic workplaces.

A comparative survey of gender equality in Norwegian, Swedish and Danish business and industry
The project aims to produce and make available statistics on the distribution between men and women in leading positions in Swedish, Norwegian, and Danish listed companies, and to map and evaluate laws and other measures taken to increase the representation of women in management groups and boards in these countries.

Women in Nordic ITS 2
WIN-ITS 2 aims to address the gender gap in the Nordic transport sector, with a particular focus on Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS). We have already established the Women in Nordic ITS (WIN-ITS), network, covering Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Estonia, and conducted a small-scale research study that pointed to the importance of changing norms and culture to mitigate the “leaky pipeline” effect, where women drop out of ITS careers due to aged norms, despite progress in company diversity policies and pay-gap initiatives.

Increased opportunities for Ukrainian women in Nordic rural communities
Ukrainian women have fled to the Nordic countries in large numbers since the war broke out in February 2022. This is a unique group as many of them come without a partner and with children and benefit from some policies. We want to explore in a comparative study in three Nordic countries; Iceland, Norway and Sweden, how they have integrated in the labour market.

REDO Lookout: Promoting gender equality and inclusion in the shipping Industry
REDO Lookout aims to foster gender equality and inclusion within the shipping industry through collaboration, awareness-raising, and knowledge-sharing initiatives from and within the Nordic region, with a specific focus on the shipping industry.

The Nordic way to lifelike representation
Based on existing research, analyses and expert knowledge, the project’s network of leading Nordic filmmakers will develop concrete guidelines to ensure that Nordic films portray young LGBTI characters in a nuanced, realistic and holistic way that is in line with the reality of Nordic youth.

TUNDRA – Empowering women-led climate tech companies in the Arctic region
TUNDRA is an innovative initiative aimed at empowering women-led growth-stage climate-tech companies through tailored access to experts, funding, and partnerships, particularly those in the Arctic region.

Towards a gender-just transition – annual conference of the UN Global Compact Nordic networks
The conference examines linkagesbetween gender equality and the ongoing climate crisis in the Nordic business context. The main objectives are to strengthen collaboration, accelerate change, and encourage businesses to set ambitious targets to deliver on the SDGs (5, 8, 10, 13).

According to the Swedish research company Ungdomsbarometern, young people in Sweden still see political parties and organizations as good ways to influence society, but boys and girls have different priorities. Not least on the climate issue.

‘Far more girls than boys see supporting or joining an organization as the best way to influence society. Young girls are also more concerned about the climate than young boys.’, said Johanna Göransson, senior consultant at Ungdomsbarometern.

She presented the 2024 survey on social engagement among young people in Sweden, at Nordregio’s webinar “Where are the boys in climate action? How to break the bubbles and join forces” (see the embedded video on this page) on August 28. The webinar launched the report “Climate, Youth and Gender – Inclusive strategies for Nordic youth movements”, which NIKK has written for Nordregio within the Sustainable Living programme.

Based on interviews and a survey among board members of youth organizations in the Nordic countries, the study draws attention to challenges at the intersection of climate engagement, gender and other categories, with a particular focus on young people in the Nordic region. The study identifies patterns of youth engagement related to aspects of gender, equality and diversity, and the report provides examples of how youth organizations address these patterns in terms of inclusion and recruitment.

Several strategies for breaking patterns

The report suggests and describes in depth several strategies to break the patterns, both for the internal and external outreach and engagement of members; 1) put the issue of inclusion and diversity on the agenda, 2) adopt a code of conduct with policies on discrimination and harassment, 3) create a safe space and a culture of openness to different views, 4) search beyond established patterns in recruitment and outreach, and 5) lower thresholds and formal requirements for engagement.

Education has impact on engagement

Previous research shows that people, both women and men, who are more care-oriented are also more interested in climate issues and more willing to adapt to sustainable lifestyles. The findings from the survey by Ungdomsbarometern, that young people seem to be more concerned about the climate while differences are visible at group level between boys and girls, are also confirmed in the new report.

‘People who are uninterested in or even opposed to action on climate and sustainability are mostly those who identify themselves as men,’ said report author Jimmy Sand, analyst at NIKK.

While young women are overrepresented in environmental organizations, the report suggests that education level and field of study can be a strong explanatory factor. Those studying social sciences at university level are more likely to be involved in these issues than, for example, those in vocational training at upper secondary school.

‘This reflects patterns in educational choices that are also evident in other contexts, where more women than men continue their studies in higher education and where men predominate in technical education,’ said Jimmy Sand.

Diversity may require compromise

The lack of resources is a major challenge for diversity and recruitment efforts, as highlighted by Alva Danielsson from the Nordic-Baltic network organization ReGeneration2030, one of the webinar’s youth representatives.

‘This is one of the toughest dilemmas we have. With little resources, we need to build capacity and create resilience within the organization. At the same time, we need to bring in more new members. We need more people involved, as this is the only way to bring about change in society’, said Alva Danielsson.

The question of recruitment was tested in the discussion: should resources be spent on increasing diversity by trying to recruit people who are not interested – or even opposed to the issues? Or on those who are interested but just haven’t taken the step to get involved yet? The study shows that organizations need to take into account and compromise with the lack of diversity on the one hand, and how social dimensions are integrated into environmental and climate issues on the other.

‘The gender bias in organizations may be related to which groups are most affected by climate change. The focus on gender, equality and climate, which men as a group are less interested in, may also alienate young men. One way to address this could be to also focus on aspects such as class, regionality, minority issues, race and ethnicity for example,’ said Jimmy Sand.

Watch the Nordregio webinar: