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| A Father's
Role Atypical employment rising for women but falling for men Working hours for men (fathers) more alarming than short working hours for women (mothers) Abilities of Female Employees Underused in Engineering Industries Women and men in Finland (link to special pages of Statistics Finland) Equality at the Workplace - from Fairy Tales to Fair Deals Milestones in Finnish equality since the 1960s
by Russell Snyder* A father's role in pregnancy and childbirth is taken very seriously in Finland. After all, it takes two to tango and the father must share the responsibility for bringing a new life into the world. It is very gratifying for a man to know he played an important part in the child bearing process and that his wife was able to rely on his support. When my wife got pregnant with our first child, neither one of us knew much about what we were getting into. When she got morning sickness I tried to find something she could eat without throwing up; when she got dizzy spells I tried to support her or at least catch her before she fell; and when she had mood swings I tried to be tolerant or at least hold my tongue. We both read lots of books, magazines and brochures about pregnancy and childbirth (she in Finnish and I in English), we attended three parenting classes together, and went on a tour of a hospital maternity ward. We also spent plenty of time shopping for baby things - and found out that having a baby is not cheap. We prepared the apartment for our future little resident - and got an aerobic workout moving things, building things and taking things apart. And in the evenings we discussed baby names and observed our unborn child kicking and moving around in the womb good-bye to nightcafés, movies and concerts. When the big day arrived I carefully timed the contractions and persuaded my wife that it was time to go (she didn't really want to). I dropped my wife off at the Women's Clinic of the Helsinki University Central Hospital and by the time I parked and returned she was already being attended by a midwife and was wired to a couple of monitors. Soon we went into a modern-looking delivery room and she was examined by another doctor. When my wife complained about the pain and asked for an epidural, an anesthesiologist breezed into the room and effortlessly gave her the injection. While waiting for my wife to go into labour, my job was mainly to comfort her. When the baby started its journey down the birth canal, I helped the midwife by lifting my wife's leg, but when things started getting messy, I was relieved by another nurse. I spent the rest of the time holding my wife's hand and reassuring her. After the birth, a nurse took the baby and I out of the room. She disappeared momentarily to clean up the baby and then she weighed, measured, and checked it while I helped as best as I could. By the time we got back into the delivery room, the afterbirth and stitching up had been completed. My wife and baby stayed for three nights in the hospital and I spent as much time as possible visiting them. It was a grand day when we were able to take our daughter home, and we were grateful for the good service in the hospital, but we wondered if we might have missed something. Our second childbirth was somewhat different. Helsinki started directing all its residents to the Helsinki City Maternity Hospital and we arrived at their doors around two years after the birth of our first child. The delivery room there looked like a living room. The soft, dim light made it seem cozy. Our room was tastefully decorated in a light shade of blue - other rooms were available in green, pink, gray, yellow, or orange colour themes. There was also a shower, a stereo and a comfortable father's chair. When my wife asked the midwife for an epidural she was gently discouraged from having it, which meant a lot more pain. And this time I was encouraged to take a more active role. I massaged my wife's back for long periods and helped her try out various positions with a Sacco cushion, a rocking chair and big pillows. When she went into labour, I worked together with the midwife lifting my wife's leg and encouraging her by saying "Push, push, good, that's it..." while I held her hand at the same time. This was quite a tiring job, so when a second midwife came into the room I was surprised that she didn't replace me. She just let me work until I heard the first cries of our new baby. I didn't leave the room at all this time. I was present for the afterbirth, the stitching up and I bathed the baby myself (under the supervision of the midwife, of course). The hospital offered us a family room, which meant that I would stay over, eat together with my wife, and spend time getting to know our new family member. Our other daughter could have stayed too, but we decided to let her visit her grandma. Our room was very pleasant. It had two beds, a sofa, a writing desk, a picture on the wall and a window with a view. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, and late snack were served at the cafeteria at set hours; coffee, tea and fruit were available any time day or night. This family ward had a television, newspapers, a play room for kids and a special father's shower. Although this is more of a 'self-service' hospital than the other one and it puts far more demands on the father, it lets him participate and believe that he has an important part to play in the childbirth something that fits in very well with the father's role in Finland. It's certainly true that a man doesn't go through all the intense pain and agony of labour experienced by a woman. However, a caring and responsible father can feel confused, stressed, exhausted, worried, afraid, overwhelmed and worst of all useless. I know, I experienced all these feelings during my wife's labour as probably does every modern Finnish father trying to do his part. I remember that all the negative emotions vanished from my mind after listening to the gentle words from my exhausted wife's lips after the childbirth: "Honey, I couldn't have managed without you." That's what every father in Finland wants to hear. Published originally in Socius 4-97, the magazine of the Ministry of Social Affairs *Russell Snyder is an American writer and freelancer living in Finland
Atypical employment rising for women (28.06.1998 - Juhani Artto) A clear majority of members of unions affiliated to the Central Organisation of Finnish Trade Unions - SAK - are satisfied with their working hours. This is one of the main conclusions of a study conducted in Spring 1998. The study forms part of a "Gender and Flexibility" project in which SAK is involved together with the British TUC and Dutch FNV organisations. The investigation shows that regular Monday to Friday day work is still the norm. 78 per cent of the respondents are in regular full-time employment and 6 per cent are in regular part-time work. The proportion of those in temporary jobs was 14 per cent, of whom just over 70 per cent were working full-time and the rest part-time. Other types of employment, including those who are called to work when needed, made up 2 per cent of the sample. Three years ago the proportion of atypical jobs was 14 per cent. Now it is 22 per cent. There is a remarkable gender split. 31 per cent of working women are in atypical employment, while the figure is only 14 per cent for men. Moreover the proportion of atypical jobs for women is rising while for men it is falling. Three out of four respondents refer to the nature of the work as the reason for their abnormal working hours. Other reasons given were the desire for additional income (16 per cent), leisure time by day (14 per cent), a higher hourly pay rate (12 per cent), having no other choice of work (7 per cent) and the suitability of such working hours for individual family circumstances. * 80 per cent of men regard their present working hours as satisfactory in their individual situation, while women take the same view in 74 per cent of cases. Dissatisfaction with working hours is greatest in the private service sector. * 37 per cent of respondents are satisfied with the length of their working hours. The corresponding proportion is 56 per cent in Britain and 67 per cent in the Netherlands. 31 per cent of SAK affiliated union members would like to work longer hours. In Britain and The Netherlands only 7 per cent express a similar attitude. * 64 per cent of part-timers would prefer to have longer working hours, while only 28 per cent of full-timers express such a preference. * 30 per cent of SAK affiliated union members would prefer shorter working hours. The corresponding proportion in the United Kingdom is higher than this, while in The Netherlands it is lower than in Finland. In Great Britain and The Netherlands there are far fewer women than men seeking shorter working hours, which is explained by the high rate of female employment in part-time jobs. In Finland, the desire for shorter working hours is at practically the same level for both male and female SAK affiliated union members. The rate of part-time employment is much lower in Finland than in The Netherlands and Great Britain. Why do so many Finns want to work more? * 55 per cent of those who expressed this wish refer to higher earnings as the reason. Other reasons include liking the work (32 per cent overall and 38 per cent of women), seeking increased security in life (20 per cent) and the desire to acquire benefits enjoyed by full-timers (13 per cent overall and 22 per cent of women). The reasons given for seeking a cut in working hours are varied: the need for more time to devote to family and hobbies (33 per cent), a desire to reduce the strain of work in the run-up to retiring age (28 per cent), health or stress (24 per cent), child care (12 per cent) and having a good enough income (12 per cent). Cutting working hours without full compensation has slowly become a less attractive proposition to members of SAK affiliated unions. This attitude was first measured in 1984, when 35 per cent gave positive replies to the question, while only 25 per cent categorically rejected the idea. In March 1998 only 18 per cent expressed a willingness to accept shorter working hours without full compensation, 43 per cent were strongly opposed to this and a further 25 per cent were rather negative towards the idea. The research report points out that one possible reason why the idea has become less attractive is the fact that working hours have in fact steadily fallen, partly thanks to collective agreements and partly because of more part-time and temporary jobs. The questionnaire was sent by post to two thousand members of SAK affiliated trade unions, of whom 51 per cent responded. SAK has 24 affiliated national unions with a total of 1.1 million members including industrial, transport and private service sector workers and most public sector employees.
Hours of work investigator Raija
Julkunen: Helsinki (15.06.1998) Hours of work have become gender-oriented in Europe. Women have shorter working hours than men and are more prepared to take advantage of parental and other long-term leaves of absence and job-sharing programmes. How should we view this? Are part-time work and long leaves of absence a feminine way of enhancing the quality of life or are they a trap which marginalises women and cuts their earnings in the labour market? The commentators take a strict view. In their opinion we should discontinue all options favouring part-time work and "career breaks" that undermine the work of women. This will leave a general reduction in working hours as a policy in line with the interests of women. It is clear that a general reduction in working hours best corresponds to the needs of women and that political movements working on behalf of women have always sought a shorter working day for both women and men. However, we cannot put a stay on the needs of women while we wait for the universal implementation of a six-hour working day. I wouldn't want to stop our tentative efforts to share work while there are women who take advantage of the programmes. As long as women participate in job-sharing schemes voluntarily, such schemes are acceptable. It is important to analyse how job-sharing and flexibility policies affect the role of women in the labour market and influence their quality of life. Job-sharing must be voluntary and temporary and any loss of income must be within the limits of acceptability. The programmes should increase the rights of women to decide how they schedule working hours and leisure. Nevertheless, part-time work or temporary leave of absence are better alternatives from the point of view of the situation of women in the labour market than is withdrawal from the labour market for longer periods. It is important for gender equality to promote the opportunities of men to take advantage of parental leave and to adapt their working hours to the needs of their families. According to recent studies made by a project at Stakes (the National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health), men and women have almost identical attitudes towards how to combine work with family life. In spite of this, the gender routine - formulated in families, income creation and public life, at places of work and elsewhere - results in gender-oriented practices. On the whole, we should be more alarmed by the longer working hours of men (fathers) than by the shorter working hours of women (mothers). *Excerpt from a lecture given by Raija Julkunen at a seminar on working hours organised by SAK in Helsinki on May 11 1998.
Abilities of Female Employees Underused in Engineering Industries Helsinki (07.06.1998 - Juhani Artto) According to a new study, women's wages and salaries in the engineering industries are only 82 per cent of those of men. This figure comes as no surprise to experts, since roughly similar differences have previously been recorded in several industries in Finland and in other economically developed countries. The study was conducted by Juhana Vartiainen, a researcher at the Labour Institute for Economic Research (http://www.labour.fi/). The statistical material, which Vartiainen describes as being of high quality, covers the years from 1990 to 1995. But what are the reasons for this pay differential? The study reveals that about two thirds of the wage and salary difference is due to the fact that jobs typically done by women are less complex and are categorised as less demanding than those mainly done by men. The remaining third seems to result from unequal treatment of women and men. This conclusion leads to another question. Are the abilities of female employees underused compared to those of men? With information about the same employees over a longer period, Vartiainen had a real opportunity to provide a reliable answer to this question. This made it possible to measure how the mobility of women and men affects their respective productivity. An analysis of the available material shows that as work becomes more demanding, the productivity of women clearly rises more than that of men. This means that women have a great deal of unused capacity and skills, while men work closer to the upper limits of their competence. According to an Institute press release, the researcher's approach and results are a novelty in this field of research. Economists speculate that the fear of discontinuous careers can be a reason for disfavouring women in working life. If women leave their jobs more often than men - for example to take parental leave - then training women for more demanding work is an uncertain investment for the employer. However, this research result suggests a different conclusion. Encouraging and helping women to move into more demanding jobs could both increase their earnings and improve the overall productivity of industry. "This would be a much more effective way of promoting equality between men and women than the special pay increases awarded to lower income employees in the recent comprehensive incomes policy agreements", the Labour Institute for Economic Research states in its press release.
Secretary of Equal Opportunity Riitta
Partinen: Helsinki (31.05.1998 - Juhani Artto) The Nordic countries are often - and with justification - presented as model countries with respect to equality of the sexes. Concrete results in this area, however, are far from ideal in the opinion of Riitta Partinen, the SAK Secretary of Equal Opportunity. In Finland, as in all other countries in the world, women are still discriminated against in working life, even though in the Nordic countries this occurs in forms which are more covert than elsewhere. "In earlier decades we believed that inequality would disappear when legislation was balanced, when women got as much formal education as men and when the problem of arranging day-care for small children was overcome. In the 1990s, however, we have had to recognise that all of this is not enough", Partinen says. "We have been forced to deepen our analysis of the reasons why the many important steps which have been taken to create the conditions for equality have left us with so few concrete results in working life." What is going wrong? Partinen lists the obstacles: "The illusion of equality in Finland is one of them. We are accustomed to discrimination and it makes us blind to inequality. Generally speaking, enterprise management does not see the importance of equality, which reinforces passive attitudes and indifference. Some people refrain from actively promoting equality in the fear that they will be branded as troublemakers and isolated. The legislation and agreements are not well-known and, finally, there is lack of will." In spite of this the attitude climate is, according to Partinen's experiences, more favourable for equality in Finland than elsewhere - Sweden, Norway and Denmark included. "Here the participation of women in working life is so self-evident that hardly anybody makes mothers feel guilty about working outside of the home. Rather many men share household responsibilities with their wives." "During the economic slump of the early 1990s, some government officials and politicians were ready to send female employees back home or turn them into part-time workers. A large majority of women rejected these ideas and expressed their preference for full-time employment." "Finnish women know from their own experience that economic independence is the best guarantee of security and healthy self-esteem." But how is progress to be made? "There is a promising new development in view", Partinen says. "Recently a new kind of interest towards the equality of the sexes has been aroused among employers. The key idea behind this late awakening is that there are benefits to be gained. There is growing evidence that equality in the workplace is a good thing not only in principle but also from the economic point of view." "Equality in working life means a better working atmosphere, more satisfied employees and higher work motivation. Staff turnover falls and - as enterprise managers are gradually beginning to appreciate - the corporate image is enhanced both nationally and internationally." "Partly these are still hypotheses because research and empirical data in this field are surprisingly scarce." As an encouraging example of the positive approach, Partinen refers to the chemical industry multinational Akzo-Nobel's unit in Ireland. "After noticing that there were no women in the management, the five year pursuit of an active equality policy led the Irish unit staff to make such rapid progress that today there is no longer any need for further discussion of the issue." In Finland the labour market partners have agreed on an experimental equality promotion project covering ten workplaces in various sectors of working life. The project will report on its progress in June 1999. Partinen also has positive expectations of the work to integrate job evaluation into equality work. Only 300,000 jobs in Finnish working life have been evaluated according to how demanding they are for the worker. Many more jobs will be evaluated over the next few years, thereby improving the basis for combating discrimination against women. Individual workplaces are now at the centre of equality policy. "We are trying to create examples of good practice from which others can learn", Partinen says. At top level round table discussions between the labour market partners, SAK has proposed the establishment of "good practice banks". Partinen hopes that one of these will be set up in Finland in autumn 1999. At this time Finland will preside at an EU equality summit. After this it will be possible to set up a European good practice bank. "The trade union movement must launch constructive initiatives at grassroots level. The greatest challenge is to find initiatives leading to concrete solutions", Partinen emphasises.
Equality at the Workplace - from Fairy
Tales 60 years ago Finland's largest central trade union organisation - SAK - established its Women's Committee. SAK is celebrating this diamond jubilee on the theme of "Equality at the Workplace - from Fairy Tales to Fair Deals". Read the details in a story written by Riitta Partinen, the SAK Secretary for Equal Opportunities.
Milestones in Finnish equality since the 1960s 1961 1962 1963 1970 1973 1975 1978 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1990 1994 1995
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