Parents of young children have probably experienced the feeling that there are often too few hours in the day. After work, children must be picked up, dinner must be bought and perhaps someone must be driven to and from training or practice. Then it may not be time to sit up all night in political meetings. But in Hadsel municipality in Vesterålen, small children are no obstacle for mayor Aina Johanne Nilsen (27). She became one of Norway’s youngest female mayors when the mother of young children took over the meeting club in Hadsel municipality in Vesterålen just over three years ago. This summer she is expecting twins. But that does not prevent her from running for re-election in the autumn local elections. On the contrary. – My consumption of municipal services will increase drastically in the coming years and it is an insight I will use to further develop our municipality. So in many ways the twins provide a double bonus, says Nilsen. But far from everyone does as the mayor of Hadsel. Gender differences Jon H. Fiva is professor of economics at BI. Together with their colleague Max-Emil M. King, they have researched what children do with the political careers of women and men. The economists have surveyed all municipal politicians who have either stood for election or been elected from 2003 until 2019. This corresponds to around 60,000 people at each local election, where around 10,000 of these are elected to political office. The criterion is that the politicians must have been active before they had their first child. Jon H. Fiva is professor of economics at BI. Together with a colleague, they have researched what children do with the political careers of women and men. Photo: Herman Ekendahl-Dreyer And the difference between the sexes is marked. – We see that women drop out of politics more often than men when they have their first child. The differences also spread when the women also return to politics after giving birth. The researchers have found that the probability of being elected falls by twice as much for women as for men in a similar situation. – Women get worse positions on lists or have a lower chance of becoming mayor, deputy mayor or getting places in, for example, the chairmanship. It looks like the train has to some extent gained, says Fiva. Have you considered participating in local politics where you live? Yes, I am actively participating today I would like to try No, I don’t have time No, I’m not that interested Show result So what do the researchers think this is due to? The economists have investigated several hypotheses to find the reason for this. Among other things, it has been looked at whether the party elites or voters discriminate against women who have had a break from politics in connection with increasing their family. – But we do not find any support for these hypotheses. The economists believe that the answer is rather found within the four walls of the house. – Women seem to take on a larger share of the care tasks in the home than men do, he says. Democratic problem Municipalities that have “family-friendly meeting times” during the day have a higher proportion of women in the municipal councils than in municipalities with many meetings in the afternoons and evenings. Therefore, the meeting times can be a good place to start to even out the differences, says Fiva. – It is one measure that can potentially contribute to reducing the career gap. The economists believe it is necessary to equalize this gender gap. If this inequality becomes too great, it will become a democratic problem, says Fiva. – Firstly, it affects the policy being pursued. In addition, Fiva mentions that it is assumed that talent is an equal advantage for women and men in society. – That is why it is important to bring the best people on board. In addition, women at the top of politics will be good role models. Has taken action Back in Hadsel municipality, the mayor says that the issue has been on the agenda for a long time. – We know that women and men are elected representatives until they have children. After that, most men continue, while women often drop out. This insight needs to be taken up by more people. That is why the municipality has taken active measures to ensure that as many as possible who want to participate in politics have the opportunity to do so. – We have clear regulations that determine meeting times, and it is remuneration for babysitters that provides the necessary predictability. Mayor Aina Johanne Nilsen stands out in the chairmanship in Hadsel, as the only mother of young children under 30 years of age. Photo: Marius Guttormsen / news Nevertheless, the mayor believes that more can be done. – The Equality Center has pointed to the relationship between remuneration and opt-out. There should be a national recommendation here. No one should lose money by holding political office. She also believes that one should look into whether this allowance should not be pensionable. “Difficult meetings” In the autumn of 2021, desperate e-mails came in to the Center for Equality. They came from women in municipal councils around the country who experienced not being heard in debates about meeting times. It was the start of a study which was to see how meeting times and remuneration affected participation in local politics. 145 municipalities took part in the project, which was entitled “Meetings for difficulty”. Annette Solberg has led the project on meeting times in the municipalities for the Equality Center. Photo: Bjørnar Solberg – What was most interesting was that there was a big geographical difference. That’s what Annette Solberg, who led the project at the Equality Center, says. – If you live in the three northernmost counties or in Western Norway, the probability is high that the meetings will be during the day. But if you live in southern Norway or eastern Norway, there are almost exclusively meetings in the evening. They also found that meetings during the day did not have as much of an impact on the overall proportion of women. – But once we looked at the proportion who had children under the age of 12, there were significantly more parents of young children in municipal councils with meetings during the day. So it has a lot to say for family life, both for men and women. The 60-year-olds’ playground The Equality Center believes that it can be an advantage to listen to the minority in the debate about meeting times around the municipalities. – It is important to include people. One solution may be to go for the golden mean. At Innlandet, they have had good results with alternate meetings in the evening and during the day. She praises the mayor in Hadsel’s choice to stand for re-election. – I think it’s great. The fact that she says that she is a major consumer of municipal services is an important point. The municipal councils in Norway are often characterized by a high average age. Here from Lyngdal municipality in Agder county last year. Photo: Svein Sundsdal / news Solberg points out that the average age of municipal councils is often high. – It has become the playground of 60-year-olds. It is therefore extremely important to have people who see how nurseries and schools work in practice, and how the policy in the municipality works out in practice. Known problem – Recently, there has been much more focus on top politicians who prioritize family and that it is difficult to combine with life in top politics. In local politics, this has probably been known for many years. So says political commentator at news, Tone Sofie Aglen. Tone Sofie Aglen is a political commentator at news. Photo: news Because at the highest level of Norwegian politics, several leading figures have recently chosen to prioritize family over career. In autumn, Audun Lysbakken resigned as leader of the Socialist Left Party. At the turn of the year, Kari Elisabeth Kaski declined to stand for election to become his successor. Last summer, Une Bastholm resigned as leader of the Green Party. – Being party leader is a position that requires extraordinary effort. It requires a lot of time and energy. I have two beautiful little girls of kindergarten age, for whom I would like to have more time, said Bastholm when she retired last summer. There was great interest when Une Bastholm resigned as head of MGD during Arendalsuka last year. Photo: Ole Berg-Rusten / NTB Taking moose hunting into account Aglen believes that many municipalities are struggling to find a form of meeting that suits everyone. – You see that women refuse to spend evenings at political meetings that collide with family life. She cites examples where moose hunting has been taken into account in a number of municipalities when the meeting calendar has been determined. – Traditionally, perhaps too little attention has been paid to family life. Kari Elisabeth Kaski (Sv) has been open about the fact that she went through a tough pregnancy and maternity leave. Pictured here outside the Storting last spring when she was still pregnant. Photo: Stig Jaarvik In addition, she mentions that a harsh tone and a tough debate climate mean that many refuse to participate in local politics. – Perhaps the local politicians should be spoken to to a greater extent? – Is it worrying that we don’t hear about more men resigning because family life? – I think it is something that is coming more and more, and that we are lagging a little behind today. Audun Lysbakken said that it was difficult to reconcile politics and family. Fylkesnes also said much of the same as Kaski.
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Aina is expecting twins this summer – is re-elected as mayor of Hadsel – news Nordland
