{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.02113022113022113, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 4.970674486803519, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
The Nordic Countries - Welfare Paradises for Women and Children?

Gender equality and generous welfare policies, combined with a long history of high numbers of women in political assemblies and governments, are highprofile traits of the five countries in the far north of Western Europe (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden). Many outside observers see the welfare policies, especially those related to parental leave and childcare, as among the most important characteristics of these countries. And Nordic governments are fond of promoting this picture. Nordic feminists, in their turn, are often asked by colleagues elsewhere to judge their own countries: are they the paradises for women that they claim to be? This commentary is our attempt to give some brief answers to that question. Over the decades since World War II, changes in welfare policies and family and labour legislation have made life easier for many women in these countries. The welfare policies made it possible for the majority of women to participate more actively in society outside the home – primarily in the labour market, but for many also in politics and other public arenas. Ultimately, such changes in women’s lives also challenge men’s ways of life. Some effects of such challenges appear in recent tendencies among men to invest more time in childcare, and in characteristic debates, dilemmas and conflicts in the relations between women and men. Today these dilemmas and conflicts tend to be constantly high on the political agenda, fuelled by feminist politicians and activists, and with many feminist researchers taking active parts in debates. At the same time, women in the Nordic countries still make less money than men, work part-time more than men, and take care of family, children and housework more than men do. Also, there are still only a few women at really high organizational levels in practically all sectors of the labour market; and men’s violence against women does not seem to be less prevalent than in other countries