The Best Countries in Europe for Women to Work

A new study conducted by Reboot SEO Agency,  on the occasion of thwe International Women’s Day, 8th March, has unearthed some surprising results revealing the best and worst countries in Europe for women to work and be successful.

When it comes to gender equality in the workplace, Lithuania is the top European nation for women in work. By evaluating a variety of factors that contribute to women’s success in the workforce, Reboot SEO Agency created a points-based index that determined which European countries offer the best prospects for female professionals.

Lithuania is the best country for working women in Europe with a combined total of 220.1 points out of a possible 300. This is unsurprising that Lithuanian women thrive in the workplace, as the data shows that the country is one of 10 nations to offer the best maternity leave (76.7 out of 100). For economic opportunities, Lithuaniain women fare extremely well, ranking joint third with Finland and Sweden (86.7/100). Despite these advances, Lithuania finished mid-table (14th place) for women in leadership roles, scoring 56.7/100, which tells us that there’s still work to be done here.

Following in second place is Finland with a combined total of 206.7 points out of 300, 13.4 points less than Lithuania. It ranked joint third for economic opportunity (86.7/100) alongside Lithuania and Sweden. The country also scored very highly for the women in leadership category, ranking fifth, with a result of 86.7. 

Included in the top 10 European best countries for women to work are:

3rd place – Bulgaria (196.7 points)

4th place – Sweden (193.4 points)

5th place – Norway (190 points)

6th place – Spain (186.7 points)

7th place – Estonia (183.3 points)

8th place – United Kingdom and France (180 points)

Following in 10th place is Greece (176.9/300). Although Greece has a high score for Maternity Leave (21.1) putting it in fourth place, it is let down by the low Economic Opportunity score (0.67) putting it at a ranking of 24/31.

Which is the country with the least opportunities for women? 

In last place is Turkey, scoring 66.7 points out of a possible 300. Despite its poor performance, the country has surprisingly earned more points for women in leadership (46.7/100) than countries traditionally known for being equal such as Croatia (23.3 points) and Austria (3.3 points). 

Naomi Aharony, CEO and Co-Founder at Reboot SEO Agency  has provided some comments on the results of the study and women in the workplace:

“The overall results have suggested that there is some progress in terms of gender equality in the workplace in Europe. Lithuania, Finland and Bulgaria ranked highly, indicating that there are some improvements being made. Although, the disappointing positions of European countries such as Germany and Denmark reaffirm that the progress towards gender parity remains slow in Europe.

Although it is good to see some advancement, women still face numerous challenges when it comes to gender equality in the workplace that involves not only the wage gap, lack of leadership representation, government incentives and work-life balance. The prevailing circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic have undoubtedly intensified these challenges, with working mothers taking the brunt of the repercussions.”