Employment
Gender and Employment
Finland's employment is also impressive in that it has almost equal employment rates for both
men and women. Finland caps off the work week at 40 hours to make
it easier to maintain a career and a family. While the work week
is only 40 hours, it is extremely difficult to find part time work.
Because Finland has such a high
female employment rate, the country experiences more egalitarian
gender relations than other countries in the European Union.Image courtesy of Pieter Baert
Finnish Employment
| * | Population | Employed | Part-Time | Projected Employment Growth (Anually) | Average Earnings |
| Female | - | 68.5% | 19.3% | 2.3% | €31,322 |
| Male | - | 72.1% | 9.3% | 2.1% | €38,756 |
| Total | 5,325,115 | 70.3% | 14.1% | 2.2% | €36,126 |
Parenting and Employment
In order to reconcile work and family without excessive conflict, Finland actually has a national legislation that grants employed parents of young children the right to reduce their working hours to 30 hour weeks or six hour workdays. In addition, all parents of children under the age of 10 have a legal right to stay home for 3 days if their child is ill. During this time, most employees receive full compensation. Overall, individuals in Finland and countries with similar systems are more able to reconcile important values like self-fulfillment, personal satisfaction and gender equality by participating in the workforce without having to entirely renounce the idea of having children.
In order to reconcile work and family without excessive conflict, Finland actually has a national legislation that grants employed parents of young children the right to reduce their working hours to 30 hour weeks or six hour workdays. In addition, all parents of children under the age of 10 have a legal right to stay home for 3 days if their child is ill. During this time, most employees receive full compensation. Overall, individuals in Finland and countries with similar systems are more able to reconcile important values like self-fulfillment, personal satisfaction and gender equality by participating in the workforce without having to entirely renounce the idea of having children.
References:
- "Eurostat". 2008. European Commission, Retrieved 02/15, 2009. (http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/portal/page/portal/eurostat/home).
- "Ministry of Social Affairs and Health." 2007. Ministry of Social Affairs and Health, Retrieved 02/15/2009, 2009. (http://www.stm.fi/Resource.phx/eng/subjt/famil/index.htx).
- Plantenga, Janneke and Chantal Remery. 2005. Reconciliation of work and private life: A comparative review of thirty European countries. Luxembourg: European Commission.
- Torres, Anália, Rita Mendes and Tiago Lapa. 2008. "Families in Europe." Portuguese Journal of Social Science 7(1):49-84.
