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Swedish family policy and gender equality
The introduction of the parental leave system is often seen as part of the
political change that reformed Swedish families from depending on a male
breadwinner to becoming dual-earner families (Ferrarini and Duvander
2010). The leave system was the outcome of a regime shift starting in
the 1960s where gender equality and specifically women’s economic
independence were at the forefront (Cedstrand 2011; Lundkvist 2011).
In addition an expanding labor market was in desperate need of labor
especially in the public sector (Stanfors 2003). The parental leave
insurance system was eventually introduced in 1974 with the goal of
enabling the combination of work and family for women and men
(Lundkvist 2011).
Originally the leave was six months paid at 90 percent of previous earnings
to share between the parents as they saw fit. The expectation was that
women would use most of the leave, and some argued for a division of half
to the mother and half to the father to avoid negative effects for women
in the labor market (Cedstrand 2011). Nevertheless, the earnings-related
benefit implied a strong incentive for women especially to work before
starting a family as the alternative to the 90 percent of the previous
earnings was a very low flat rate. The earnings-related benefit was later
decreased to 80 percent during the economic crisis of the 1990s.
The length of the leave was extended in steps during the 1980s to 12
months and an additional three months paid at a low flat rate for everyone.
Fathers’ share of the leave started out as being minimal but increased
slowly, perhaps partly as the leave was extended and made sharing more
possible. The debate on gender equality has been present in Sweden since
the 1960s, and fathers’ leave use has always been at the forefront of this
debate (Klinth 2002).
The reform in 1995 reserved one month to each parent, meaning that if the
designated parent did not use the leave it would be forfeited. The only
exception was if one parent had sole custody of the child, but this is very
uncommon in Sweden, also when the parents are not living together. The
stated aim of the reform was to enhance sharing of leave days but also to
reach gender equality in other areas. The law proposal specifies that the
reform hopefully would lead to more gender equality in the home and a
stronger position for women in the labor market (Prop 1993/94:147).
Furthermore, the leave was formally individualized in 1995, so that if one
parent wanted to use more than half of the leave the other parent had to
accept this by formally signing over days. All days except those reserved
can be signed over to the other parent, and this is often done from the
father to the mother. It is, however, likely that the reform had an
informational and symbolic importance in this respect, especially as the
system is complicated and knowledge of one’s own rights is lacking