Anita Haataja (2009): Fathers' use of paternity and parental leave in the Nordic countries. KELA

The first paternity and parental leave schemes were introduced in most Nordic countries in the
1970s. The aim of the paternity leave was not only to give fathers the possibility to build an early connection to the newborn child, but also to allow them to be present and available for assistance when the mother returns from the hospital. The aim of the parental leave was not only to support father-child relations but also to promote gender equality in sharing child care duties and to bolster women’s situation in the labour market. Thus, these two leave schemes have both similar and different aims. In order to investigate how these aims are being realised, appropriate information is needed. In the comparative context this kind of information is rarely available.

The aim of this working paper is to assess, on one hand, how frequently Nordic fathers use
paternity leaves and, on the other hand, what share of the parental leave periods is used by
fathers. The results show that Finnish fathers use paternity leaves the most but share parental
leave periods the least. Sharing the parental leave is most popular in Iceland, followed by Sweden.

The results are, however, not quite straightforward, because the flexibility of the leave schemes has increased. For instance, that which is termed ‘parental leave’, may, in some countries, be used as paternity leave.

Whole publication (19 pp., PDF)
http://helda.helsinki.fi/bitstream/handle/10250/8370/FathersLeaves_Nordic.pdf?sequence=1