Women’s specific situation in Sweden

In Sweden equal opportunity means equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities for women and men to pursue work which provides economic independence, care for children and the home and participate in politics, unions and other social activities.

The term equality refers to parity in relations among all individuals and groups in society. Underlying this notion is the belief that all people are of equal value, regardless of sex, race, religion, ethnic origin or social class. One of the cornerstones of equality is equal opportunity. There is a special Swedish term for equal opportunity; jämställdhet.

Equal opportunity has both quantitative and qualitative aspects. The quantitative aspect implies an equal distribution of women and men in all areas of society, such as education, work, recreation and positions of power. An equal distribution would be a group composed of women to men of 40% - 60% or even closer to 50% - 50%. If women constitute more than 60% of a group, that group is women-dominated. If men constitute more than 60% of a group then that group is man-dominated. The qualitative aspect implies that the knowledge, experience and values of both women and men are given equal weight and used to enrich and direct all social areas and endeavours.

In the midst 1970s the Swedish parliament decided to plan for a long-term changes making it possible for women and men under the same conditions to combine care of children with employment, political and societal activity.