Women in Norway discuss what living there is like – and how it compares with other countries
Time and time again, when it comes to the best countries in the world to be a woman, Norway emerges at the top of the rankings.
The country in western Scandinavia consistently ranks high on international indexes such as the Global Gender Gap report and the Women Peace and Security Index, which grade countries’ performances in areas like political empowerment, economic participation, education, health, safety and access to financial resources.
Gender equality is written into the Norwegian Constitution, its Human Rights Act, and its Equality and Anti-Discrimination Act.
Women participate widely at senior levels in politics, while in business the country mandates quotas for women on corporate boards.
In addition, though, equality is – crucially – ingrained in Norwegian society, women living there have told The i Paper.
Eva Dybwad Alstad, 59, who lives in the village of Skatval near Trondheim, said Norway’s commitment to women meant it was a haven where women felt safe, fairly treated and able to thrive.
“It’s a very important principle in Norway that women have the same rights as men,” she said.
For Alstad, it is important that she can earn her own money, working first as a teacher and now in agricultural policy for the Norwegian local government.
“I am economically free to make my own choices,” she said. “I feel equal to men, with the same rights to employment and pay.”
She said many women study law, “which is important because they go on to look after equality in the law”.
Women hold positions of power
Juliana Linares Øverland, author of Making Norway My Home, moved to Norway from Brazil to marry and live with her husband. She said she immediately noticed how women were in positions of leadership everywhere from regular workplaces to politics, which sets the tone for how women are treated throughout the country.
When Øverland, 51, initially moved to Norway in 2013, there was a female mayor in Stavanger, and since then, the country had had a female prime minister, Erna Solberg, in power.
“I see women taking part in political and economical debates in Norway,” Øverland said. “I’ve recently been to a festival on economy and development and there were many women on stage. The opinions of the women matter just as much as their male colleagues. When children see such role models in our society, they grow up believing it’s normal to have both men and women in leadership positions.”
Women make up 68 of the 169 representatives (40 per cent) in Norway’s parliament, whose members are chosen through a proportional representation system combined with party quotas.
“Norwegians believe in equality across the board, for everything, and leadership in politics definitely makes this possible,” said Monique Ceccato, an Australian who moved to Norway.
Norway’s parental leave benefits mothers and fathers
Women’s prominent role in public life is not down to chance. Norway has one of the highest rates of female workforce participation in the world’s advanced economies, around 61.7 per cent compared with 68.5 per cent for men in 2024, according to the World Bank Group. This compares with around 57.3 per cent in Britain.
This is in part thanks to the amount of time Norwegian men spend doing childcare and housework, and the generous parental leave and pay for parents after having a baby.
Ceccato, 35, who settled in Stavanger on the west coast in 2024 with her Norwegian partner, described the country’s parental leave system as “the best policies I have ever come across”.
Between both parents, 49 weeks can be taken at 100 per cent of their regular salaries. Fifteen of those weeks are mandatory for the mother to take, 15 weeks are mandatory for the father to take, “and then there are 16 weeks that can be split however you want,” Ceccato said.
Three weeks are also allocated to the mother before her due date, although these are forfeited if she goes into labour before 37 weeks.
This compares with two weeks of maternity and paternity leave, paid at 90 per cent of earnings, in Britain. Maternity leave then covers six weeks at 90 per cent, with the remaining 33 weeks at the same rate or £187.18, whichever is lower.
When Alstad had her first child in 1992, she could stay at home from work with full pay for six months, and her husband had three weeks to do the same. “It’s much better now for parents,” she said.
Her daughter, who has just had a baby, has taken advantage of the leave available. “Mothers don’t feel so alone in the job of raising children – they share it with the father. Both parents learn to be responsible for the child,” said Alstad.
Support for parents doesn’t stop after that
When babies are a bit older, they can attend childcare facilities that cost far less than what has been available traditionally in countries such as Britain.
From the age of one until five, children can attend full-time childcare. Ceccato said: “No childcare is allowed to charge more than £90 a month” [1,200 Norwegian krone].
Norway applies the principle that no family should pay more than 6 per cent of their total income to childcare, and it is heavily subsidised by the government. Additionally, low-income families are eligible to receive 20 hours a week of free childcare.
“That was implemented to encourage women to go back to work, and to make sure childcare wasn’t a burden to get them back to work,” said Ceccato. “It’s affordable compared to Australia. I have friends who pay that much for a day of childcare in Sydney. It’s fantastic.”
The generous leave at the start of her baby’s life, and ongoing support with childcare costs, are two of the reasons the couple decided to stay in Norway.
In September, Britain expanded government-funded childcare to 30 hours a week during term time for working parents of children between nine months and five.
According to data from 2023, Britain had been one of the most expensive Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries for childcare, with British parents spending 23 per cent of their average wage on childcare. Only the United States had a higher proportion of average household income spent on childcare at around 40 per cent.
Women feel safer in Norway
Another significant, unexpected and welcome advantage to living in Norway has been safety on the streets.
“I have never been cat-called, never been chatted up in a bar, never been made to feel uncomfortable by a man here in Norway,” Ceccato said. “It just doesn’t happen. Women aren’t objectified. I feel safe walking home at night, and I could leave the doors unlocked and feel completely okay being home alone. It’s so freeing to not have to constantly be on your toes and aware of what’s around you.”
She has found that Norwegian men, in general, tend to be “caring, level-headed, and shy,” all which she suspects makes women feel respected and safe.
Øverland also emphasised how safe the country felt in contrast to her home country of Brazil.
“Walking on the streets feeling safe, not observed by “hungry” eyes – it’s priceless,” she said. “Not hearing comments on your body. Sitting on the bus not worried about who’s sitting near you. Norwegian men don’t stare at women they don’t know.”
Although she initially found it “terrible” living in Norway due to the culture shock, gloomy weather, and language barrier, she soon learned to appreciate what the country offered – safety, a high value on family, and respect of women, and strength of female leadership.
Why there is still work to do
Despite the progress for women, however, some have emphasised that the country is still not as gender-equal as they would like it to be.
“There is still work to be done in the medical realm,” Ceccato said. “There is a lot of dismissal about women’s health issues. It’s disheartening but I don’t think it’s unfamiliar to women in other countries.”
Alstad said she was worried about the “trad wife” movement among young girls in Norway.
“Our rights in Norway have been hard fought for in Norway, and we have to make sure we stay in a place where we are equal with me, so we don’t backtrack,” Alstad said. “These rights we have today, we fought for them. We have to talk about these, or we will lose them.”
Øverland hopes that younger generations of women do not forget the “fought hard” rights for the comforts women in Norway experience today.
“There’s chauvinism movements here and there, she concluded. “That’s why we shouldn’t take the reached gender “almost” equality for granted.”
