swedish parental leave and gender equality

The images or other third party material in this chapter are included in the chapter’s Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. They provided information about fathers’ decisions to take parental leave, experiences while on leave and potential impact of leave-taking on domestic work and identities as fathers.

“What will you do at home?” they ask.

When asked, most fathers mentioned gender differences in parents’ participation in childcare.

No respondents were personal acquaintances; they were all two or three “links” from her; for example, a friend’s friend’s neighbour.

Matthias reported: “I got tips and advice [from my partner]…But of course the child changes weekly, so certain advice she gave me didn’t work any longer…. Both my wife and I have done that.

Mothers who completed leave returned to full-time work and those still on leave seemed likely to return to full-time work.

Those men who had completed leave expressed both continuity and change with a traditional male norm for employment. Partner took 9.5 months. Felix stated: “ I clean more…. Riksdag [Parliament] Proposition. Our sample was markedly different from Swedish fathers in general in the amount of leave taken or scheduled. On the other hand, some fathers successfully challenged norms about the work commitment of loyal male employees, by changing to more family-friendly jobs or reorganizing work hours to facilitate availability for childcare. In E. Magnusson, M. Rönnblom, & H. Silius (Eds.). Today, there is a strong social norm that fathers should take parental leave and the share of days taken by fathers increases each year. Perceptions of fatherhood and attitudes toward leave-taking in Sweden vary by class and ethnicity (Almqvist et al. 2011; Klinth 2013). However, it was also not questioned that mothers took the first and major chunk of leave. The fathers who planned to get other things done during leave quickly discovered that taking care of a small child is full-time. Sweden was the first country to offer fathers paid leave and subsequent reforms such as non-transferable months were designed to encourage fathers to take a larger share of leave (Duvander and Johansson 2012). ANDERS (age 37). What influences Swedish parents satisfaction with sharing of parental leave”. NILS (age 40). His share will be 50 % (16 % so far). Actualizing the ‘democratic family’?

Compared to other societies, Sweden stands out as having more gender egalitarian policies (see for example Gornick and Meyers 2008) and the goal of gender equality is taken for granted.

One child, age 2. Stockholm: Inspektionen för socialförsäkringen.

Men’s breadwinning activities have provided them with more economic resources and power in the family (Polatnick 1983).

Matthias reported his dad visited “now and then,” mainly to see his grandchild, while Filip rejected his mother’s offer to help. The focus has been on men’s rights and what they may gain by greater childcare involvement, rather than on demanding that they take an equal share of responsibility (Almqvist et al.

This is often argued to be needed during a transition period between the solo care of the two parents. Since 2012, 1 month’s leave (but not the 2 reserved months) can be used simultaneously by parents, facilitating transition from mother care to solo father care. To find 14 participants, we sent over 100 private messages to Thalberg’s contacts on Facebook and about 50 e-mails to her friends and colleagues, asking whether they knew fathers who might be interested in discussing recent parental leave. There was variation in the workplace demands placed on fathers, sometimes related to leave length. Linnaeus Center on Social Policy and Family Dynamics in Europe (Working Paper 2013:8). Seven had taken or planned to take over 40 % and four took one-third or less (see Appendix). Third, negotiations at the workplace level to a large degree determine fathers’ participation in family life. Nils said: “…if I hadn’t had children and had I only prioritized my career …I perhaps would have gotten somewhere else….. Who knows, I feel very good about this, I feel that I grew as a person because I took [leave].”, Another theme from the interviews was that fathers felt that there were positive consequences of their leave-taking for their workplaces. It is politically correct in some way.”, Even if fathers’ leave was taken for granted among respondents, multiple constraints, pressures and negotiations were reported. Each parent has 2 non-transferable months paid at the higher level and is entitled to half of the remaining leave (but can transfer it to the other). Riksdagen: Social Ministry. His share of leave was 42 %. The equality debate is focused on the need for equal employment opportunities for women.

These fathers did not request leave; they announced their plans to go on leave. Higher expectations of sharing childcare is related to a higher share of divided childcare once becoming parents, although it seems that some tasks are more often shared than others. Some fathers expressed mild criticisms of the system. Two children, ages 1 and 4. Matthias reported challenges in finding an appropriate time to take leave because of project work. Haas, L., & Rostgaard, T. (2011). Nevertheless, some fathers indicated that it took time to get used to childcare duties.

Fathers reported little discussion with partners about leave-taking, saying they were “in synch” with each other, sharing the same attitudes and understanding each other’s work situation. There is a longstanding political consensus in Sweden favouring equality between men and women. Accordingly, fathers have the same rights as mothers to leave and policymakers aim to increase fathers’ leave use by various reforms. Two children, ages 1 and 4. To learn about our use of cookies and how you can manage your cookie settings, please see our Cookie Policy.

Fathers in the male-dominated building industry and those working in foreign-owned companies reported the most opposition, particularly from co-workers. Gender equality was sometimes taken for granted as a reason why they shared leave, especially when fathers took more leave. Respondents in the survey had their first child between the waves and the interview-study focused on parents of 2–3 year olds. While all fathers returned to full-time employment, some had difficulties getting back into former jobs and claimed to have sacrificed career progression by being home. Haas, L., & Hwang, C. (2008).

We use cookies to improve your website experience. However, most employees receive extra compensation through collective agreements (Duvander et al. Filip (district store manager, 32) said: “It feels unfamiliar not to work.… to all of a sudden not need to bother about all that.

These keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. Duvander, A., & Johansson, M. (2012).

Matthias (telecommunication advisor, 33) said: “So he doesn’t sleep and doesn’t eat…Then you get more or less depressed….’What am I doing wrong, did I buy the wrong food, or did I prepare the food wrong, why did he eat when [my partner] was at home but not with me?’” Felix reported that it was hardest when both children were sick simultaneously: “I have a shorter temper and yell more than I ought to.” Kristoffer (special needs assistant, 37) said: “He screamed the whole time, … when he was happy, …when he was sad, …when he was angry. Fathers can take leave full-time, part-time, even an hour a day.

Partner was home for 8 months; he had been home full-time for 1 month and planned 1.5 months more (2.5 months altogether). Mats (group leader, 40) gave up a managerial position he was promoted to before his leave, upon realizing how much time the position took. And then, poof, and so goes the next day and so went 9 months and it felt like 4 weeks.

Fathers’ right to parental leave in the Nordic countries: Consequences for the gendered division of leave.

In J. Lewis (Ed.). And I don’t feel the need myself…[But] now that our child has become a little older I think that I perhaps ought to go to open preschool for her sake, just for socializing…” The only father who had contact with a “pappa group” was dissatisfied with the experience. Another aspect of leave policy that may impact men’s leave use is flexibility.

Why most Swedish fathers and few French fathers use paid parental leave.

Filip said: “I didn’t feel like we had the same goals. A Liberal-Conservative government first reserved 1 month of non-transferable leave for fathers in 1995; this was extended to 2 months in 2002 by a Social Democratic government. Ridgeway, C., & Correll, S. (2000). At the individual level, leave was portrayed as enjoyable (if sometimes challenging) – even a comfortable respite from everyday life.

This entitlement was however not always to half the leave, and mixed reactions at the workplace sometimes led fathers to make concessions in terms of leave use. Partner was home 12 months, then he took 1 month simultaneously with partner and then 8 months alone. Gender equality was expressed as an abstract and taken-for-granted goal, not really of concern for their own situation.

Matthias stated “You need more time than 3 months to get into the pappa role.” Some fathers mentioned that further earmarking could be difficult economically for some families and they could understand why people want choice. Five interviewed fathers were still on leave, which yielded detail-rich descriptions of fresh experiences.

Since then policy reforms and campaigns have promoted fathers’ up-take of parental leave.

2002; Hobson et al.

48 In the Swedish ideological debate three main different reasons emerge urging fathers to take parental leave : equality between men and women, the child’s right to be with both parents and the possibility of changing traditional gender stereotypes. Two children, ages 3 and 6. Parental Leave Policies in 21 Countries Assessing Generosity and Gender Equality Rebecca Ray, Janet C. Gornick, and John Schmitt September 2008 Revised June 2009 Center for Economic and Policy Research 1611 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 400 Washington, D.C. 20009 202-293-5380 www.cepr.net

Sweden is well known for its family policy and this study explores whether fathers’ parental leave is related to later division of childcare and housework. His share of leave will be 50 % (36 % so far). It was not always clear if these consequences were different than those associated with the transition to fatherhood. This development has been partially policy-driven; since the 1960s, fatherhood in policy discourse and practice has successively shifted towards a focus on gender equality and a dual earner-carer model.

Fathers in the private sector tended to report that there was also a workplace norm for fathers’ leave-taking, but long leaves were exceptional. Perhaps gender relations are also shifting to be more concerned with sharing tasks, although this seems to be a more inconsistent and incomplete development. Sundström, M., & Duvander, A. She has an important job, earns a lot of money, okay.” Mothers’ employment orientation and income have previously been found to increase fathers’ leave (Duvander and Viklund 2014; Haas 1992; Sundström and Duvander 2002). While on leave, Carlos’s boss hired another person as technical manager, a position he thought would be his. Swedish fathers’ parental leave, division of childcare and housework1. Riksförsäkringsverket [National Social Insurance Board]. Swedish mothers’ early return to full-time work increases their contributions to family income and breadwinning and also enhances the chances that couples will share childcare after leave is over (Thomas and Hildingsson 2009). Noel and a close friend (both taking leave part-time) planned ahead to be home the same days. Magnusson, E. (2008).

This change in orientation could contribute to the spread of shared caregiving and breadwinning responsibility in Sweden. We are grateful to our respondents in this study. There is a little bit of a macho culture among the guys…” Patrik (production manager, 32) , who earlier worked in a foreign-owned company, recounted: “They don’t understand the concept of parental leave, it is ‘Bah!

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