Each of these reforms has seen men taking on a larger share of parental leave days, reaching around 30% today.Ī further incentive designed to encourage parents in Sweden to share leave is the flexibility around taking their state-subsidised time off. This "use-it-or-lose-it" leave was increased to 60 days in 2002 and 90 days in 2016. In 1995, 30 days of leave were, for the first time, reserved specifically for each parent, with the idea that having a dedicated "daddy month" would incentivise couples to share the benefit more equally. In 1974, when the shared parental leave policy was first introduced, just 0.5% of all leave days were taken by fathers by the 1990s, the proportion was still in single digits. "One of the stated goals was to get fathers more involved in care work in the home… and at the same time make it possible for mothers to work more or go back to the workforce sooner," explains Ylva Moberg, a researcher at the Swedish Institute for Social Research, part of Stockholm University.ĭespite strong support at the ballot box, social norms didn't shift overnight. Successive Social Democrat prime ministers, most notably Olof Palme, promised to boost gender equality and strengthen the welfare state, using taxes to fund the shift. While women's rights movements grew globally in the 1960s and 1970s, its ideologies quickly entered mainstream politics more rapidly in Sweden than in many other countries. Sweden's progress in encouraging time off for new fathers must be viewed in the context of its politics. At the same time, however, equality campaigners argue that while Sweden's policies might seem utopic to feminist observers, its success in encouraging parents to share leave has stalled in recent years, and the majority of heterosexual couples still don't share their state-subsidised leave days 50/50. Plus, there's a growing body of research highlighting the positive consequences of taking leave on parents' wellbeing. Sweden's approach offers plenty of insights for countries or workplaces that are looking to offer more gender-neutral childcare policies. After that, there is a daily statutory compensation of SEK180 ($16, £14). For the first 390 days, most parents can claim benefits equivalent to 80% of their salaries, up to a monthly salary cap of SEK47,750 ($4,650, £3,590). Today, parents in Sweden (including LGBTQ+, adoptive and single parents) are legally entitled to a total of 480 days off work, one of the most generous state-funded packages on the planet. Since 1974, when the policy became law, the number of paid parental-leave days has increased even further. The idea was it could be shared between couples as they saw fit, giving the same rights to fathers and mothers. He's now a 74-year-old retired car mechanic, and his memories are from five decades ago, soon after Sweden became the first country in the world to introduce 180 days of state-funded parental leave that wasn't gender-specific. He doesn't work for a progressive start-up or a global corporation ramping up its employee experience policies. The period also involved changing countless nappies, lots of cooking and learning to comfort his son when he was upset. We were outside all the time," says Sarnold, who was living in Stockholm's archipelago at the time. I had one of those baby carriers on my back. His son was eight months old, and they bonded during a balmy September when his employer granted him four weeks off work on 90% of his salary – paid by the state – while his wife returned to work full-time. Kjell Sarnold has a glint in his eye as he describes fond memories of his parental leave in the 1970s.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |