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was elected to the city council of Tam-
pere, Finland’s third largest city. She
was elected to Parliament three years
later, and when her center-left Social
Democrats, led by Antti Rinne, won the
April 2019 election, Marin was named
Transportation Minister. Then in De-
cember, after a two-week postal strike
that spread to other industries, Rinne lost
the support of one of his coalition part-
ners and resigned. The party elected her
to take his place.
Marin now sits atop a government in
which 12 of the 19 Cabinet positions are
filled by women. But in Finland, which
has had female Prime Ministers twice be-
fore and ranks third in parity on the 2020
World Economic Forum’s Global Gender
Gap Report, that’s not considered re-
markable. “We have long been pioneers
in gender equality,” the Prime Minister
says of her country, which was also the
first European nation to grant all women
the right to vote. “So, maybe it’s not as
big a deal in Finland as it would be some-
where else.”
That doesn’t mean there’s nothing left
to accomplish when it comes to equality.
Marin ranks closing the pay gap (Finn-
ish women earn €0.83¢ for every €1 men
earn) and persuading men to take their
fair share of parental leave as key con-
cerns. Before taking office, she also ex-
pressed support for the idea of moving
the country to a four-day workweek, in
order to allow parents more time with
their families.
Climate change is also a central pillar
of her agenda. The government she over-
sees has pledged to become carbon neu-
tral by 2035. If successful, Finland would
be one of the first countries in the world to
achieve net-zero emissions. Traffic emis-
sions will be cut 50% by 2030, she says,
through a mix of public- transportation
initiatives, subsidies for renewable fuels
and the development of new technologies.
“It will also create jobs and opportunities
for Finland. I don’t think that fighting
climate change means higher costs and
a worse future. I think it’s the opposite.”She faces a serious challenge convinc-
ing the rest of her country of that, how-
ever. Recent polls have shown her Social
Democrats slipping markedly against the
now leading Finns, a nationalist populist
party that opposes immigration and has
decried the expense of the government’s
education and climate plans. “Traditional
parties need to take a look in the mirror,”
she says in response. “One of the reasons
European countries fell into populism is
how we solved the financial crisis—many
people lost their jobs and their hope in the
future. That is the ground where popu-
lism grows. Making decisions that help
people educate themselves, that raise the
well-being of individuals and families—
that’s the best way to fight populism.”a self-confessed idealist who is
also “very pragmatic,” she understands
that in these divisive times, simple an-
swers and loud voices often win out. But
she sees her job as building consensus
rather than inflaming passions. It’s one
of the things she appreciates about the
Finnish way of doing things, as is her fel-
low citizens’ ingrained politeness. Asked
whether she worries about protecting her
privacy now that she is Prime Minister,
she laughs. “No, because it is Finland,
thank God,” she says. Every weekend she
returns to her home to be with her hus-
band and small daughter, and she says she
shops at the local grocery store like any-
one else. “Maybe someone will come up
and say, ‘Oh, it’s so nice to meet you.’ But
that’s it. I can be a normal person.”
Maybe so, but as the global media at-
tention suggests, there are plenty who are
looking to her to join the newly growing
ranks of young, female role models. Yet
once again, in her quiet, firm way, she
rejects the label. “I don’t think it’s be-
cause of their age or gender,” she says.
“Greta Thunberg is not a role model be-
cause she’s a young girl. It’s because she’s
a voice for climate. She’s talking about is-
sues, and that’s what inspires people.”
Still, Marin will admit one area where
having an all-women government makes
a difference. “We Finns have our sauna,”
the Prime Minister says with a slight
smile. “And traditionally, it’s where we
make decisions. So now that we have
five women in charge, we can all go to
the sauna together and make the deci-
sions there.” □△
Marin at Kesäranta, the official
residence of the Finnish Prime Minister,
in Helsinki on Dec. 20