Daddy Leave

In this land of Viking lore,men are at the heart of the gender-equality debate. The pony-tailed centre-right finance minister calls himself a feminist,ads for cleaning products rarely feature women as homemakers,and preschools vet books for gender stereotypes in animal characters. Swedish mothers still take more time off with children almost four times as much.

But laws reserving at least two months of the generously paid,13-month parental leave exclusively for fathers have set off profound social change. In 1974,Sweden became the first country to replace maternity leave with parental leave. In perhaps the most striking example of social engineering,a new definition of masculinity is emerging.

Many men no longer want to be identified just by their jobs, said Bengt Westerberg,who as deputy prime minister phased in a first month of paternity leave in 1995. Birgitta Ohlsson,European Affairs Minister,put it this way: Machos with dinosaur values dont make the top-10 lists of attractive men in womens magazines anymore. Now men can have it all- a successful career and being a responsible daddy, she added. Its a new kind of manly.

In this new world of the sexes,some women complain that Swedish men are too politically correct even to flirt in a bar. And some men admit to occasional pangs of insecurity. I know my wife expects me to take parental leave, said a prominent radio journalist,But if I was on a lonely island with her and Tarzan,I hope she would still pick me.

Introducing daddy leave in 1995 had an immediate impact. No father was forced to stay home,but the family lost one month of subsidies if he did not. Soon more than eight in 10 men took leave. Among the self-employed,and in rural and immigrant communities,men are far less likely to take leave,said Nalin Pekgul,chairwoman of the Social Democratic Partys womens federation.

But the daddy months have left their mark. A study published by the Swedish Institute of Labor Market Policy Evaluation in March showed,for instance,that a mothers future earnings increase on average 7 per cent for every month the father takes leave.

While Sweden,with nine million people,made a strategic decision to get more women into the work force in the booming 1960s,other countries imported more immigrant men. As populations in Europe decline and new labour shortages loom,countries have studied the Swedish model,said Peter Moss an expert on leave policies at the University of Londons Institute of Education.

Portugal is the only country where paternity leave is mandatory,but only for a week. Iceland has reserves three months for father,three months for mother and allows parents to share another three months. The trend is not limited to small countries. Germany tweaked Swedens model,reserving two out of 14 months of paid leave for fathers. Within two years,fathers taking parental leave surged from 3 percent to more than 20 percent.

Some,however,worry that as men and women both work and both stay home with kids,a gender identity crisis looms. Manhood is being squeezed by the sameness,argued Ingemar Gens,author and self-described gender consultant.