A new study conducted by Reboot SEO Agency has unearthed some surprising results revealing the best and worst countries in Europe for women to work - highlighting where it is best to become a parent. 

To investigate, Reboot SEO Agency extracted maternity leave benefits for every European country, taking into consideration the number of weeks offered and multiplying by the maternity leave rate. 

Alongside this, Reboot SEO Agency evaluated other factors that contribute to women's success in the workplace, creating a points-based index.

An overview of the main findings for Maternity Leave:
 

• Bulgaria is the best European country for women in work to benefit from the best maternity leave package, with maximum points  (100 points out of possible 100)
• Croatia is the 2nd best European country for female workers in terms of Maternity Leave benefits, scoring 96.7/100
• Luxembourg, Poland and Estonia are all joint 5th with 80 points out of 100          
• Austria, Netherland and Spain come in joint 10th place (56.7 points)       

The Best European Country for Maternity Leave? 

Bulgaria is the best country for working women in Europe in terms of maternity leave with a huge total of 100 points out of a possible 100. According to The World Population Review female workers in Bulgaria are entitled to up to 58.6 weeks of maternity leave provided in a phased approach. This leave is funded at nearly full pay, covering 90% of the employee's salary through social security. 

Croatia comes in at second place, scoring 96.7 out of 100, very close to Bulgaria. The World Population Review states that Croatia offers a generous 30 weeks of maternity leave, typically beginning 28 days prior to the birth and lasting until the child is six months old. Additional parental leave is available once the child is six months old, as needed.  Employees in Croatia are paid 100% of their typical salary, with few exceptions for irregular workers whose typical salary is not easily determined.

Included in the top 10 European best countries for maternity leave are:

3^rd place – Slovakia (93.3 points)

4^th Greece - Norway (190 points)

5^th place – Luxembourg, Poland, Estonia (80 points)

6^th place – Lithuania (76.7 points)

7^th place – Italy (73.3 points)

8^th place - Czech Republic (70 points)

9^th place - Hungary (66.7 points)

10^th place - Austria, Netherland and Spain (56.7 points)

The best European country for women to work overall? 

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.

Bulgaria Among the Top 5 Best European Countries for Women to Work

Which is the country with the least opportunities for women to work overall?

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 affluent 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.”

/Reboot SEO Agency 

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