1. Gender equality. In Norway, a man equals a woman and vice versa. It is not to the level that there is an absolutely equal pay between genders, and it doesn’t stretch to situations where men go out dressed as women without the rise of a few eyebrows. But all in all at work, at school and in society in general people are treated equal whether they are a man or a women. No dirty jokes at work, no blockage of your career because you are a woman. See on this topic The Joys of Being a Woman in Norway
2. Extraordinary working conditions. In Norway the laws protecting worker rights are strong and applied. The culture of compromise going on here make it unacceptable to scream at your employees, or sexually harass them. Hierarchy is quite flat even at work, encouraging a sense of equality. Most important of all, it is accepted that workers have a life outside of work, which will allow you to get out of your office earlier than you would in your home country. This applies to jobs with a legal contract, I imagine the situation is different for those with jobs on the black market. If you have any experience on this send me a message with your experience.
3. High salaries. It is true that life is expensive in Norway, but salaries are proportionate to the cost of living. If you earn a Norwegian salary, you will be able to buy those 3 or 4 euro coffees, and you might even manage to pay for a beer without selling your organs (I forgot to say that if you like cheap booze Norway is not the right place for you). The gap between the highest paid person and the lowest paid person is much thinner than in other countries, that is because everyone is paid a decent salary even if your job is to clean toilets. If you want to come to Norway as a tourist, then see my tips on how to visit in Norway on a budget.
4. Stunning nature. Norway is home to magnificent fjords, mountains, islands, seashore, lakes, northern lights, midnight sun and all the nature you’ve always dreamed of. For pictures, you can go directly to the Huffington Post article that inspired this blogpost.
5. Clean air, low pollution and proximity of nature. Almost anywhere in the country air is clean, and if you are in a city centre then take a bus for 20 minutes and you will be in the middle of the forest. This applies to Oslo as well, and it is a luxury that not many capital cities can offer in this industrialised and urbanised world we live in.
6. Long parental leave for both parents. Because of a functioning tax and social security system, a high proportion of the active Norwegian population working and paying tax, and political will of course, people working in Norway get much longer parental leaves than in any country I’ve seen (check out NAV regulations on this). Each couple gets 49 weeks parental leave with 100% of their salaries. Fathers get a minimum quota of 10 weeks (also called pappapermisjon) and mothers get a minimum of 13 weeks. The rest of the leave (26 weeks) is to be shared among the couple as they please. Same rules apply to same-sex couples. Yes, Norway is also gay-friendly.
6. Norway has a low corruption index and good ethics.
Catchy titles in Norwegian media have called Norway the “most corrupt in Scandinavia” but if seen from another angle, the 4th or 5th cleanest countries in the world. Transparency is king here regarding anyone’s tax situation, including politicians’. Any political action of nepotism or conflict of interest will get you fired almost on the spot, a habit which is unheard of in other Southern countries including my own (Sarkozy is accused in 7 cases and is still running for presidential election). Think about it, could Jens Stoltenberg have been taken in a bunga bunga or other corruption scandal without losing his job? I don’t think so. Berlusconi wouldn’t even exist on the political scenery in Norway. See the EU report on corruption in Norway for judges, parliament and prosecutors.