This report provides information on significant pieces of the multifaceted picture that women and men with immigrant backgrounds represent, and compared with women and men in the total population. Four main subjects are included: Demographic structure and change, education, labour market participation and childcare and cash benefit.

Facts and figures after the municipal council and county council election in 2007.

3.7 per cent of the Norwegian population were registered as victims of offences in 2006. Young men are over-represented among victims of both crime for profit and violence.

The latest statistics on women employed in the higher education sector in Norway from NIFU STEP. NIFU STEP develops and presents statistics from the higher education and research sector.

Female immigrants make up an increasingly larger share of Norway's population. There are, at times, major differences between men and women in the non-western immigrant population, both with regard to why they have come to Norway and how they are coping here.

Among non-western immigrants there was a clear overrepresentation of men in the 1970s. Immigration was mainly related to employment at that time. With the increase in family reunification and the growing number of marriages between Norwegian men and foreign women, the overrepresentation of men has become a slight underrepresentation. Among immigrants with western backgrounds, there was an overrepresentation of women for a long time, but now this group also has about the same number of men and women. Among refugees, there is a male overrepresentation of 130 men per 100 women.

Since 1994, the rape detection rate has fallen by a third, from 30% to 20%. 75% of all rapes reported in 1997 were shelved, 7% were not settled, 5% ended in acquittals and just below 13% ended with one or more perpetrators being found guilty - after 4 to 5 years (as of 1 January, 2002) in the legal system.

"Women and men in Norway" is a brief and easy to read presentation of statistics on how women and men live in Norway today.

"Women and men in Norway" is a brief and easy to read presentation of statistics on how women and men live in Norway today.

Norway as a whole has a 3% deficit of women in the 20-39 age group (103 men per 100 women). This ratio varies considerably from region to region.

Women live longer than men, but have more illnesses and health problems than men throughout their lives. This apparent paradox can be explained by a number of factors, both biological and social.

Since the mid-1980s, women have been in the majority among students, and almost six out of ten students are women today.

Whereas women spend almost four hours on household work a day, this figure is two hours and forty minutes for men.

Women and men work different hours, have different educational backgrounds and work in different occupations and industries. However, even when these factors are taken into account, there are still some differences in pay by gender.

Despite that women now make up 47 per cent of the labour force, they are still in the minority in managerial positions. In Norway in 2004, 29 per cent of all managers were women, an increase from 26 per cent in 2001.

The post-war period was the great era of the nuclear family. More people got married and the proportion of one-person households decreased slightly.

The employment level increased by 50 000 from 2005 to 2006, where the number of temporary employees rose by 22 000. The figures are taken from the latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) carried out by Statistics Norway. The rise in part-time employment was particularly among women working 30-36 hours per week. 

Innovation Norway promotes nationwide industrial development profitable to both the business economy and Norway’s national economy, and helps release the potential of different districts and regions by contributing towards innovation, internationalisation and promotion. Innovation Norway aims to ensure that at least 25 per cent of the company’s total grants (financed by all ministries) are allocated for the establishment of women-oriented enterprises or projects. In 2003, 15 per cent of total allocations (loans, guarantees and grants) were provided for women-oriented projects. In 2004 and 2005 the figures were 18 per cent and 19 per cent respectively. In 2005, 24 per cent of innovation grants were allocated for women-oriented activities.

Number of weeks worked and actual working hours per week.

The boardrooms of the public limited companies are 545 women short of fulfilling the requirements of gender balanced representation. The percentage male board members has decreased from 82.7 to 70.4.

Male immigrants had an employment rate at 62.5 per cent, while this rate for female immigrants was 52.6 per cent. In the population as a whole the rates were 72.6 and 66.0 per cent, respectively. The increase in employment was mainly among male immigrants - at 1.5 percentage points. Among female immigrants the increase was only 0.4 percentage points.

In 2006, 431 Norwegians are working for international organisations, 172 of whom are women. Of the 225 Norwegian employees at the UN, 94 are women. Norway has 100 foreign service missions, 15 of which have a female head of mission, i.e. either Consul General or Ambassador.

By the end of 2008 there were 261 900 children in kindergartens, 12 400 more than in 2007. 87.2 per cent of all children between 1 and 5 years had a place in a kindergarten.

More men than women die of accidents and suicide.

The time women use on house work per day has declined by about 2 hours between 1971 and 2000. For men the average time spent on house work has increased by about half an hour in this period. This is due to the fact that more men are taking part in this kind of work than before. In total, the time used on house work has declined considerably in the last 30 years. The percentage of men doing house work has increased in all age groups.

Among the country's 3.5 million persons aged 18 and above, 60 per cent lived as couples. Couples includes in this context persons who are married, living as registered partners or as cohabitants and were registered as living in the same dwelling.

Life expectancy at birth was 83.0 years for women and 78.3 years for men. The gender gap in life expectancy in 2008 was 4.6 years in favor of women. For more than a hundred years the gender gap was between 2.5 and 3.5 years, but it increased from the middle of the 1950s towards 1980. In the first half of the 1980s it stabilized around 6.8 years. The gender gap has since then decreased gradually to the level of today.

The long-term trend with increasing number of small households continues. In Norway slight more than 800 000 persons lived alone on 1 January 2007 which is 17 per cent of the population. 59 per cent of the population lives as couples - either persons who are married, living as registered partners or as cohabitants.

In 2008 60 500 children were born in Norway. The total fertility rate (TFR) was 1.96 children per woman, the highest since 1975.

4 681 134 people are living in Norway  - 2 325 788 are male and 2 355 346 are female.

The elderly of today are more fit than ever. There has, however, been an increase in mental health problems among young women. They are also seeking professional help for their problems.

The earmarked part of the parental leave (father's quota), now up to six weeks, was taken by around 87 per cent of fathers who are entitled to such leave. However, almost 40 per cent are not entitled to such leave, which means that in total only around 50 per cent of fathers take paternal leave.

The proportion of daily smokers in 2008 is 21 per cent for both men and women, compared with 23 per cent for women and 21 per cent for men in 2007. The proportion has fallen steadily over the past 10 years, and there are fewer smokers nowadays particularly among the young.

1 746 men and 292 women are members of boards in public limited companies. There are totally 2 038 board members in these companies.

For the first time there is a female majority in the Sami Parliament in Norway (Sametinget). 22 women were elected in the Sametinget election in 2005. This number constitutes 51 per cent of the members of parliament. The Sami people (also Sámi, Saami, Lapps and Laplanders) are the indigenous people of Sápmi, which encompasses parts of northern Sweden, Norway, Finland and the Kola Peninsula of Russia. The Sami Parliaments, founded in Norway (1989), Sweden (1993), and Finland (1996) have very weak political influence, far from autonomy. They are formally public authorities, ruled by the Scandinavian governments, but have democratically elected parliamentarians.

In the Parliamentary election in 2005, 64 of the 160 representatives were women. 62,1 percent were men.

One out of three people who set up as sole traders are women. Female founders make traditional choices, and are found within business sectors that are typically female dominated. A quarter of all sole proprietorships in Norway are owned by women, and one out of ten board members is a woman.

In an international context, Norway is often regarded as a leader in gender equality. The employment level for women is approaching the same as that for men. However, the labour market in Norway is extremely gender-divided. Statistics show systematic differences between men and women. Women work to a greater extent than men in the public sector within health and care services, but hold managerial positions to a lesser extent than men.

Norway has a large number of part-time workers compared with other European countries. One out of ten men and more than four out of ten women worked part-time in the fourth quarter of 2002, according to the Labour Force Survey (LFS). During the 1990s it became more common for men to work part-time, and the gap between women and men's part-time employment practices became smaller.

The cash benefit arrangement is a cash grant that is offered to parents of children between 1 and 3 years of age, who do not or only partly use the state-supported kindergartens or day care services. 92 per cent of the 45 528 recipients of cash benefits for childcare in 2007 were women. See also the Cash Benefit Act.

More than 45 per cent of women aged 25-29 years have completed a tertiary education. In comparison, less than 18 per cent of women aged 60-66 years have completed an education at this level. The corresponding figures for men reveal significantly smaller differences. In the 16-49 age group, more women than men have completed a tertiary education, whereas men are in the majority among people aged 50 and over.

40 per cent of doctorates in 2005 were awarded to women, compared to 10 per cent in 1980.

Out of 714 doctorates 428 were awarded to men and 286 were awarded to women in 2003.

35.8 per cent of all representatives were women, and 64.2 were men.

Of the 1 579 711 active members in federations associated with the Norwegian Olympic Committee and Confederation of Sports (NIF) 584 641 are women and 995 070 are men.

Females constituted 70 per cent of all teachers in primary and lower secondary schools in 2003. In upper secondary schools, female teachers were just below 46 per cent. At 52 per cent, males are also in the majority in public colleges. The universities are the only educational institutions where male teachers are advancing in number. The portion of female teaching personnel was 30,5 per cent in 2003. Overall, 19 per cent of the male and 40 per cent of female teachers worked part-time in 2003.

There are approximately 60 per cent women and 40 per cent men in tertiary education. 70 per cent of the men were aged between 19 and 24, while 63 per cent of the women were in this age group. About 26 per cent of the women and 18 per cent of the men were over 35 of age.

In many families with children, kindergarten is the preferred child-care option. 

Many non-western women are not visible in the education race. Among non-immigrants there are more women than men with a high level of educational attainment. And while women from western countries at average have a higher level of education than men, women among immigrants from non-western countries tend to have a lower level of education than men.

The number of immigrants who have completed primary and secondary education (16-24 years) is close to that of non-immigrants: 89 and 91 per cent. Participation in secondary education among 16-18 year olds in this immigrant group is at about the same level as for all 16-18 year olds. Participation in tertiary education is also higher among immigrants' children than among first generation immigrants.

This report provides information on significant pieces of the multifaceted picture that women and men with immigrant backgrounds represent, and compared with women and men in the total population. Four main subjects are included: demographic structure and change, education, labour market participation and childcare and cash benefit.