– There has been broad support for the equality not only been about basic fairness, but also has been something that pays off. My starting point has really been putting numbers on the importance of female employment in the Norwegian economy, says scientist Kjersti Misje Østbakken at the Institute for Social Research.
She has seen developments in the Norwegian economy from 1972 to 2013 and analyzed how much of the growth in GDP can be explained by the growth in employment among women.
In the research report “Equality and Growth,” commissioned by the Ministry of Children and Equality, she shows that Norway has served thousands of billions to get women into the workforce. About the employment of women had not grown since 1972 mainland GDP has been 3.300 billion lower.
Demanding exercise
– It is a demanding exercise to imagine a scenario without women’s entry into the labor market. But what we can say for sure is that the average growth in the mainland economy has been about 2 percent annually on average. Approximately 10 percent of this growth can be explained by the increased use of labor. The growth was primarily due to increased female employment, she said.
She also turned the problem upside down: What we had served if women had worked as much as men for the same period? Then had mainland GDP has been 2.300 billion larger than today.
– This shows that it is a very valuable labor reserve in women, particularly because the use of part-time among women is so widespread, says Østbakken.
More women in work
– The key lesson is that the report shows revenues by getting more women into work. When discussing things like full coverage and paid parental leave, we see only the major expenses. It is important with figures showing benefits. There is no doubt that the math goes in plus, said Acting Director of Employment in the NHO, Kristina Jullum garden.
She says that internationally there are many who want the recipe for the Norwegian equality.
– To us it is very useful to use these numbers when we are in dialogue with our sister organizations in other countries. Most recently last week, we used this report to support our message in the face of the Japanese government. We are also experiencing great interest for Norwegian gender equality policies in other European countries.
Though the report shows that women work twice as much today as in 1972, it’s still like that women far greater extent work part-time than men. But the numbers are on the mend, according to NHO director.
– I see mums today work much more full than they were just a few years ago, she said.
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