In general, leave policies have during the past decades been developed from transferable parental leave, that has mainly been used by mothers, towards leave quotas that promote a more equal sharing of care responsibilities between parents. Childcare services enabling parents’ paid employment are today understood as children’s right to early childhood education and care (ECEC) irrespective of their social background.
In this volume, we have provided a description of the goals and development of leave policies during the past 20 years in the Nordic countries, with the aim of understanding how these policies may contribute to social sustainable development. This we have done by placing focus on how gender equality and other forms of inequality intersect, in terms of eligibility, usage and outcomes. Next, we point out some convergences as well as differences between the five countries and discuss how these convergences and differences may contribute to social sustainability in the Nordic societies.
The differences between the Nordic countries in parental leave policies have been related to the duration of well-paid leave, the level of compensation during leave, flexibility in leave use, and the existence and characteristics of non-transferable leave quotas. For example, while Norway and Sweden were the first countries to introduce a father’s quota in the 1990’s, a decade later Iceland took the lead in gender equality with a three-month long fathers’ quota, but the total length of well-paid leave was shorter than in the other Nordic countries. Finland was a latecomer in introducing the fathers’ quota and has had the most familistic leave policy promoting “freedom of choice”. In Denmark, fathers’ leave use has been encouraged through collective agreements rather than national legislation up until very recently. In Sweden, the quotas have been introduced gradually, each reform passing with less debate than before.
Looking at the past two decades, however, we can see some convergence in the Nordic countries’ leave policies. Today, all countries have statutory leave quotas for each parent. Denmark was the last country to join the “quota club” in 2022, not because of Nordic inspiration but due to the EU directive on work-life balance that imposes a minimum of four months of parental leave for each parent, of which two months should be non-transferable. There are however disparities in the length of the individual leave period for each parent: it is longest in Sweden (eight months including both the transferable and non-transferable leave period) while the Danish quota of 11 weeks is the shortest one. Also, some countries give a possibility to transfer part of the reserved leave to the other parent, while others don’t. This changes the length of the quota when understood as non-transferable and puts Iceland in the lead with 4,5 months, followed by Finland with about four months.
The introduction of longer leave quotas for fathers, as well as the increased flexibility in leave use such as the possibility to take part-time leave, or use leave during a longer time span, has been reflected in the increased take-up of leave by fathers in all countries. We can also see similar socio-economic disparities in leave use in all countries. In all countries mothers still use the majority of parental leave days, but more equal sharing takes place among parents with high education level than among those with lower level of education. Highly educated fathers take more parental leave whereas mothers with higher education level use shorter leave periods.
Another convergence – but also an exception - can be seen in the terminology of leave schemes as gender neutral terminology is now more common than before. Sweden offering “parental leave” rather than “maternity leave” was the forerunner already in the 1970’s; while there is a short period of colloquially called “paternity leave”, the official term is gender neutral “temporary leave in connection to a child’s birth or adoption”. While gender-neutral parental leave has existed since the 1980’s, gender-specific “maternity leave” and “paternity leave” were removed as late as in 2022 in Finland. But the same year the introduction of the gendered quotas in Denmark brought along also gendered terminology.
The transferability of leave between legal guardians – biological, adoptive or foster parents - has been part of the Nordic leave policy for a longer time. More recent development has focused on possibilities to transfer leave also to other caretakers in the child’s life. Today, parents in the Nordic countries can transfer part of their reserved leave to their cohabiting partner who is a social parent of the child – but not in Iceland, where this is possible only if the spouse adopts the child. Transferring parental leave to grandparents has been discussed in all countries and in Sweden it has been possible since 2024 as leave can now be transferred to anyone. In Norway, grandparents can use the short paternity leave if there is no partner to assist the mother after the birth of a child.
Eligibility to parental leave and the related benefits in Norway and Denmark is based on employment or activity in studies or job seeking. In Finland, Sweden and Iceland, all parents who live in the country are eligible to parental leave, but those with no prior income that have not been active in the labour market, such as students, receive a minimum benefit. Asylum seekers, however, are not eligible to leave benefits in any country, as their social security is part of the migration system.
The provision and use of childcare services is closely linked to the leave possibilities and the use of leave by parents. All Nordic countries except Iceland have a universal right to affordable early childhood education and care (ECEC) after parental leave, thus leaving no gaps between these important childcare policies. During the past decade, the enrolment of children under 3 (of which those under 1 year are mainly at home with their parents on parental leave) in ECEC has been highest in Denmark and Norway (around 60 per cent) and quite high in Sweden and Iceland (almost 50 per cent), while in Finland it has been clearly lower (less than one third) due to the cash-for care policy. Recently, the participation rate among young children has decreased in Denmark as there is concern among parents about the quality of childcare services.
The Nordic Welfare States’ development of leave policies include some important aspects that align with reaching the goals of social sustainable development. These include tackling – but not totally removing - inequalities between women and men, between socioeconomic groups, and between diverse family forms. The gender-neutral terminology reflects the leave rights of for example other than biological or heterosexual parents. Also, parents may not have to share residency with the child to be able to take parental leave. However, regarding socioeconomic differences those may actually have increased as it is the resourceful parents that share the leave most, and parents without income or with low education fall behind.
Today, the Nordic societies face several new challenges: fertility has been falling for over a decade; the COVID-19 pandemic brought along social isolation and mental health challenges; labour markets are changing; and climate change and wars have increased fear and insecurity of future. These challenges may be reflected in the patterns of childcare choices and parental leave use in the future.