Gender inequalities in family leaves, employment and pensions in Finland

Abstract

In this chapter, we discuss how family leave-related career breaks relate to gender inequalities in employment and pensions in Finland. While being considered as one of the most gender-equal countries in the world, the gender gap in earnings and pensions is still considerable in Finland. Career breaks related to parenting are one of the reasons for the persisting gap. Family leaves are by far still taken mainly by the mother and the home care allowance, which is available until the child’s third birthday, offers an incentive for comparatively long absence from the labour market. The unequal division of family leaves and mothers’ long career breaks affect women’s earnings negatively during the life-course. Since the pension reform in 2005, earning-related pension accrues during maternity/paternity and parental leaves, but the accrual rate is much lower during the home care allowance. The gender gap in pension is still significant and has reduced very slowly during the past decades, and things being equal the gap continues to remain wide in upcoming decades.