Equal rights to paid parental leave and caring fathers- the case of Iceland

Abstract

In 2000 the Icelandic parliament adopted unanimously a new and radical law on parental leave. The leave was extended from six months to nine; divided between the parents so that fathers were allotted three months, mothers three and the remaining three divided between the two. One reason given for this division was to try to ensure that children received care from both parents. From the results of a questionnaire answered by parents who had their first child in 1997, 2003 or 2009 it was estimated whether the intention of the law was put into practice. The results indicate that the division of care between parents, from birth until three years, has changed in the intended direction and that this is mainly due to the law. The results also showed that this is least common among parents that do not live together. However, even amongst these parents the division of care is more equal among those who had their first child in 2009 than those who had their first in 1997. Finally, the results show that there is a direct correlation between the length of leave taken by the father and his involvement in care afterwards. Overall, these results indicate that the law has had the intended effect of providing children with care from both parents.

Fathers on Leave Alone in Iceland: Normal Paternal Behaviour?

“…This is in line with results from other countries, showing that fathers that are active from the beginning continue to shoulder a greater share of child care than those who have not been very active while the child was very young (Kitterød 2013 ;Nepomnyaschy and Waldfogel 2007 ;Rege and Solli 2010 ;Tanaka and Waldfogel 2007 ). While not claiming that this is solely due to the impact of the new parental leave a comparison of parents where the fathers took parental leave and those where he did not show much more involvement from those fathers that used parental leave (Arnalds et al 2013 ).…”

Difference and equality: Icelandic parents' division of parental leave within the context of a childcare gap

“…Studies of Icelandic fathers' uptake of parental leave show that the great majority of men use their earmarked three months, and compared with the situation before the 2000, when the current Parental Leave Act came into effect, fathers partake in early childhood care to a larger extent (Arnalds et al, 2013;Eydal, 2008). Still, these changes do not seem to alter the time mothers spend on infant care over the course of the parental leave period.…”

“…Parental leave taken by Icelandic men surpassed the initial estimates and continued to grow in the years following the act (Eydal & Gíslason, 2008). Research has also showed that the introduction of earmarked parental leave for fathers correlates with the increased sharing of childcare tasks in the families (Arnalds, Eydal, & Gíslason, 2013). This tendency may naturally be understood as a strong public support of the system and its aims.…”

Iceland: From feminist governance to gender-blind austerity?

“…The result of this is that the uptake of parental leave among fathers seems to have been affected. While the proportion of fathers applying for leave was similar in 2011 and 2007 (91 per cent and 89 per cent, respectively), the time spent on leave by fathers went from averaging 100 days in 2007 to 84 in 2011, although this decline should be interpreted somewhat cautiously 6 (Arnalds, Eydal, and Gíslason 2013). In 2012 the government raised the cap back to its 2008 level in nominal terms and decided to prolong the leave from nine months to 12 in stages between 2014 and 2016, where each parent would have five months of non-transferrable leave and then they would each divide the remaining two months of leave between them.…”