Fathers in childcare

In recent years, Nordic countries like Finland have made significant efforts to promote gender equality both at home and workplace. A key step in this journey was Finland’s pioneering introduction of paternity leave, aimed at encouraging fathers to take a more active role in childcare.

After the policy changes in 2013, there has been a notable rise in fathers taking leave. However, many fathers are still not taking leave. Why not? Understanding why and how these policy changes affect individuals lives is crucial for improving plans.

Finland has made several changes to its leave policies since the 1990s to encourage fathers to take more leave. A key reform in 2003 aimed to promote gender equality. In 2013, a non-transferable ‘father’s quota’ was introduced.

Do you know what a father’s quota is? It refers to the leave that is specifically allocated for fathers. After introducing this quota, more fathers have gradually started taking leave.

Later on, the latest change in the legislation was in 2022. These changes benefit all families and help balance work and family life. Also, it provides parents with greater freedom to design their leave arrangements.

Different policy changes over time affect people’s life in different ways. Some studies have examined the uptake of paternal leave, mostly using survey data in Finland. However, there aren’t many studies that have investigated on the diverse effects of these policies.

In my Master’s thesis, I started analyzing the effects of policy reforms on fertility. During my PhD, I will explore what influences fathers’ leave uptake and how these reforms affect their lives. More specifically, my research will look at different parental leave reforms and its consequences.

My research works will unfold the factors affecting father’s leave uptake throughout the reforms, including immigrant fathers. Furthermore, I’ll investigate the diverse impacts of these reforms on their lives. By better understanding these effects, we can predict and improve the outcomes of policy reforms on our life.

Sumia Akter
The author is a doctoral researcher in INVEST, Sociology at the University of Turku. In her dissertation, she studies the effects of parental leave reforms on father’s leave uptake and its consequences in Finland.

Sources used:

Eerola, P., Lammi-Taskula, J., O’Brien, M., Hietamäki, J., & Räikkönen, E. (2019). Fathers’ Leave Take-Up in Finland: Motivations and Barriers in a Complex Nordic Leave Scheme. Sage Open, 9(4).

Mussino, E., Tervola, J., & Duvander, A.-Z. (2019). Decomposing the determinants of fathers’ parental leave use: Evidence from migration between Finland and Sweden. Journal of European Social Policy, 29(2), 197–212.

Närvi, J., Lammi-Taskula, J., Salmi, M. and Miettinen, A. (2022) ‘Finland country note’, in Koslowski, A., Blum, S., Dobrotić, I., Kaufman, G. and Moss, P. (eds.) International Review of Leave Policies and Research 2022. Retrieved Aug 15, 2023 from https:/www.leavenetwork.org/annual-review-reports/

Kotimäki, S., Chapman, S., & Helske, S. (2017). Fathers on family leaves: Who, when, and why? Retrieved April 25, 2024 from https://blogit.utu.fi/invest/2021/11/11/fathers-on-family-leaves-who-when-and-why/

Categories: Parental leave reform, father’s leave, childcare, leave uptake, father’s quota.