TY - JOUR
T1 - Trends in parental leave in the Nordic countries
T2 - Has the forward march of gender equality halted?
AU - Eydal, Guðný
AU - Gíslason, Ingólfur
AU - Rostgaard, Tine
AU - Brandth, Berit
AU - Lammi-Taskula, Johanna
AU - Duvander, Ann-Zofie
PY - 2015
Y1 - 2015
N2 - The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the development of parental leave in the Nordic countries in the last decade or so and explain the different roads taken by individual countries in this regard. Focusing on the recent development, mainly on father’s quota, we discuss whether we are witnessing a paradigm shift in some of these countries, away from an emphasis on gender equality to a more traditional family approach, with the mother as the main parent, thinly guised as ‘free choice’ of individual families. Furthermore, the article asks why the changes in question have taken place and examines the positions of different political parties towards the issue. The article shows that the Nordic countries are developing somewhat different policies and the gap between both policies and politics in the Nordic countries seems to be increasing rather than closing up.
AB - The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the development of parental leave in the Nordic countries in the last decade or so and explain the different roads taken by individual countries in this regard. Focusing on the recent development, mainly on father’s quota, we discuss whether we are witnessing a paradigm shift in some of these countries, away from an emphasis on gender equality to a more traditional family approach, with the mother as the main parent, thinly guised as ‘free choice’ of individual families. Furthermore, the article asks why the changes in question have taken place and examines the positions of different political parties towards the issue. The article shows that the Nordic countries are developing somewhat different policies and the gap between both policies and politics in the Nordic countries seems to be increasing rather than closing up.
U2 - 10.1080/13668803.2014.1002754
DO - 10.1080/13668803.2014.1002754
M3 - Journal article
SN - 1366-8803
VL - 18
SP - 167
EP - 181
JO - Community, Work & Family
JF - Community, Work & Family
IS - 2
ER -