In The Swedish Mother Model, Johan Norberg cites a Guardian article by Catherine Hakim:
“[T]here is a pay threshold in Nordic countries below which are 80% of all women, and above which are 80% of all men.?What is more, the glass ceiling problem is larger in family-friendly Sweden than it is in the hire-and-fire-at-will US, and it has also grown as family-friendly policies have expanded. In Sweden 1.5% of senior management are women, compared with 11% in the US.?
[?]
75% of Swedish women are working in the public sector — traditionally the lower-paid, lower-qualified end of the employment market — while 75% of men are working in the racier, more demanding private sector. What has happened through the years of family-friendly policies, she says, is that private companies have reduced their number of female employees because they can?t afford the cost of the generous maternity packages.”