I recently wrote about Swedish diapers having pictures of fathers on them. Reader feedback is that it is not common in other countries.
These photos are from an article in Buzzfeed about parental leave in Sweden which is extremely generous and includes both men and women (hence the term parental leave being used in Sweden rather than maternity leave which is more commonly used internationally).
My observation is that, despite men and women being able to share the parental leave equally, men still take less. Partly because many women really want to take more time with their babies and partly because men still earn more (yep, even in Sweden) so the father taking more parental leave means economic loss to the household. Something which many households cannot afford. Parental leave in Sweden is paid by the Social Insurance Agency and is at approximately 80% of monthly salary.
Women taking more parental leave results in lower pension a long way down the line, because the total income earned is lower.
These photos also tell you quite a bit about Sweden, apart from what is is like to be a father on parental leave. The Buzzfeed article (link above) is well worth reading.
Interesting. Thanks, Janet
I think it’s an excellent initiative. Germany is similar although men don’t have as much time off as women. In Germany, women are not expected to go back to work until their child starts with kindergarten. When I had my daughter, my husband got 2 months parental leave.