Welfare resilience in crises in the Nordic countries
The financial crisis, pandemic, war, environmental and climate threats of recent years show that the global risk scenario can evolve rapidly and that the threats to our societies are complex. Strengthening citizens' conditions for good health is central to coping with future crises. At the same time, there are major challenges in the health and medical care of the welfare sectors.
The demand for welfare services, with a focus on health and medical care, is growing at a pace that makes the labour force insufficient. Health and medical care is also not equal and there are regional variations in access to care and differences between women and men's consumption of care. The challenges of increasing life expectancy and an ageing population can be found throughout the Nordic Region.
Alongside the need for new recruitment, there are also major challenges in creating the conditions for those already working in the health sector to stay. Many occupations in the health sector are female-dominated, ethnic minority backgrounds are common, wages are generally low (compared to male-dominated welfare occupations with similar education and skills requirements) and part-time work is more common than in other welfare occupations.
About the project
In order to stimulate a Nordic discussion on welfare resilience, the Nordic Council of Ministers has initiated this project, which is carried out by NIKK, Nordic Information on Gender. NIKK is a cooperation body under the Nordic Council of Ministers, placed at the Swedish Sercretariat for Gender Research, University of Gothenburg.
The project has a cross-cutting approach: the knowledge produced is relevant to several sectors within Nordic co-operation and therefore contributes to strengthened collaboration between both policy areas and actors active within them, as well as between researchers and other experts.
The project will result in:
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A publication of texts submitted through an open call for proposals.
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A seminar
The goal of the project is to contribute knowledge to better understand and analyse challenges and opportunities for making decisions that strengthen preparedness for crises and increase the resilience of welfare in the Nordic region with a focus on health and medical care from a gender perspective.
We co-operate with:
Paula Mulinari, Department of Social Work, Malmö University, Ann Liljas and Bo Burström, Department of Global Public Health, Karolinska Institutet, John Lapidus, Department of Economy and Society, University of Gothenburg and Ann-Zofie Duvander and Minna Lundgren, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Mid Sweden University and the social and gender equality sectors of the Nordic Council of Ministers.
