We LOVE Sweden
Photo by Casper Hedberg for the International Herald Tribune
The International Herald Tribune is running a series called “The Female Factor,” which examines where women stand in the early 21st century. Yesterday’s story focused on Sweden, which may be the most promising model for gender equity in the world.
Currently, 85% of Swedish fathers take paternal leave. This started in 1995 when Sweden introduced “daddy leave,” a policy that encouraged fathers to stay at home for a month with their newborns or lose a month of subsidies.
If Mona Sahlin wins Sweden’s election in September, becoming the country’s first female prime minister, she will double the nontransferable leave for each parent to four months.
As is stands, parents may use their 390 days of paid leave however they want up to the child’s eighth birthday — monthly, weekly, daily and even hourly.
Divorce and separation rates in Sweden have dropped since daddy leave was implemented, and Sweden’s model has inspired Germany to get on board as well, reserving two out of 14 months of paid leave for fathers.
What I love about this news, besides everything, is that it might adjust American men’s notions of masculinity to include cooking, cleaning and cutting their children’s nails, as Swedish men do. It also might cause the United States to stop punishing men and women in the workforce for caring for their families.
