According to The Economist’s glass-ceiling index, Finland has overtaken both Norway and Sweden as the best place in the world to be a working woman. Even though the Nordic countries lead the chart, it is still by no means an indication that equality is fully achieved – there is still way to go around the globe. But for Finland this is a good place to continue on from.

The Economist’s glass-ceiling index indicates where women have the best chance of being treated equally at work, combining data on higher education, labour-force participation, wages, child-care costs, maternity rights, business-school applications and representation in senior jobs.

Finland has the highest score of all the 28 countries in share of women in higher education, labour-force participation by women and women taking the business-school entrance exam. Finland has also increased paid maternity leave by more than two weeks. In Norway women’s share of senior management positions is slightly down from last year but it is still the leading country when it comes to women on company boards – they have had a 40% mandatory quota in effect since 2008. The share of women in the parliament has remained unchanged in both Finland and Norway, but decreased slightly in Sweden, where the gender pay gap has also widened and is now closer to the OECD average.

The Economist's glass-ceiling index top ten countries (with score):

1.    Finland (80)
2.    Norway (79,4)
3.    Sweden (79,4)
4.    Poland (73,1)
5.    France (72,1)
6.    Hungary (67,8)
7.    Denmark (67,4)
8.    Spain (65,9)
9.    Belgium (65,9)
10.    New Zealand (64,3)

Source: www.economist.com
Photo: E. Sirparanta/City of Helsinki Tourist Board