📝80 days of average paternity leave for men?! ~What is Sweden's parental leave system?~

Hello, this is Takamin.

While paternity leave for men is becoming more common, it's a dilemma how many days one can actually take.

I took 3 months, but I feel that cases of men taking several months off are still rare.

“I want to take (or want my partner to take) a long parental leave, but I wonder if it's difficult due to work circumstances...”
“I wish I could use parental leave more flexibly and without hesitation...”

So, this time, I took a look at the system in Sweden, which is said to have an advanced parental leave system!

Believe it or not, the paternity leave uptake rate in Sweden is 90%! In contrast, Japan's is 30%... (as of 2023).

It can be said that in Sweden, the systems and mindset for men to take parental leave are deeply rooted.
However, it's not as if these systems existed from the beginning, so it must have reached this point through many years of reform.

Just how did parental leave become so widespread??

I found a document that summarizes the system and the transition of parental leave adoption, so I will decipher it!

📖Source

Mieko Takahashi

“Policies to Promote Men's Participation in Childcare in Sweden: From the Perspective of Gender Equality and Children's Rights”

Consumer Co-operative Studies, 2024, (5) 40-50.

🔍What we can learn from this paper

This paper examines the policies to promote men's participation in childcare and the transition of the parental leave system in Sweden.

💡Conclusion

In Sweden, a lifestyle of leaving work on time and taking long summer vacations was already established.
Therefore, it can be said that it was easier for the practice of men taking long vacations to participate in childcare to permeate.

When the parental leave system was first introduced, the percentage of days taken by men out of the total days taken by couples was only 0.5%.

Since then, the system has been revised many times, and currently, the percentage of days taken by men out of the total days taken by couples has reached 30%.

The reason for the increase in the number of days taken by men was the introduction of a quota system that guarantees a certain number of days for fathers to take.

🖋️Analysis of research details and results

🟢Sweden's parental leave system was introduced in 1974, but at that time, men accounted for only 0.5% of the total days taken by couples.

However, with revisions to the system, that percentage rose to 5% in 1980, 10% in 1995, 23% in 2010, and 30.9% in 2023.

🟢The gap between the number of days taken by men and women is also narrowing year by year, with children born in
1999: women 321 days, men 33 days
2021: women 250 days, men 77 days

as the figures.

The reason why the number of days taken by women is decreasing while the number of days taken by men is increasing is that
the parental leave system guarantees a total number of days for the couple, so the proportion taken by men within that total is increasing.

Also, in the statistics, taking a full day of leave is counted as "1 day" of leave, but in Sweden, it is possible to take parental leave in hourly increments, so taking two half-days of leave is counted as "1 day".

The reason the total time for men and women is decreasing may be because cases of taking leave flexibly in hourly increments are increasing in this way.

🟢The Swedish government's policy is to equalize the number of days of parental leave between men and women, and it has been noted that this is desirable not only for reducing gender gaps in career development and wages, but also
from the perspective of child development.

🟢For this purpose, a parental leave quota system was introduced. This is a system where, out of the parental leave granted to a couple, a certain number of days can only be taken by the father.

At the time of introduction, one month was allocated, and it has now increased to three months.
With the introduction of the quota system, the number of days of paternity leave taken by men increased.

🟢In Sweden, not only is it easy for men to take parental leave, but they also use systems that support the balance between child-rearing and work, such as reduced working hours, telework, and nursing leave, at a higher rate than in other countries.

The following is the result of a survey of men with children regarding the systems they have used. It compares Sweden and Japan by response rate for the systems used. (2020)

◯ Maternity/Paternity Leave System
Sweden: 88%
Japan: 16%

◯ Reduced Working Hours
Sweden: 27%
Japan: 5%

◯ Telework
Sweden: 30%
Japan: 4%

◯ Child Nursing Leave System
Sweden: 71%
Japan: 8%

I believe that as of 2026, the usage rate of systems in Japan is higher, but
telework, which became widespread in Japan especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, was already widespread in Sweden as of 2020, and
nursing leave was as widespread as parental leave.

From these points, it can be said that systems for couples to share child-rearing and balance it with work were widespread.

🟢Finally, I list points that Japan can learn from Sweden.

Since Japan's challenge is that even though the systems exist, the usage rate is low or there is a bias between men and women, it is stated that it is important to eliminate barriers and disparities in utilizing the systems,
and to create an environment where everyone can actually utilize the systems.

I hope that the introduction of a quota system, which was actually effective in Sweden's system, will also become widespread in Japan.

The recently introduced post-natal paternity leave in Japan is similar to a quota system, but
that period is limited to 28 days.

Just as the period in Sweden was extended from the initial one month to three months, I believe that if it is extended in Japan as well, it will lead to the removal of barriers to using the system and the elimination of gender inequality.

🔑Summary

Even in Sweden, where men taking parental leave is now widely normalized, the usage rate at the time of the system's introduction was very low.

However, the system was revised many times, and men taking parental leave became widespread. The particular catalyst for this was the introduction of a quota system that guaranteed a set number of days of parental leave for men.

By referring to Sweden's initiatives in Japan as well, it is thought that men taking parental leave will become more widespread by eliminating barriers to using the system and reducing inequality.

Thank you for reading until the end!

※This article includes the author's personal interpretations and considerations based on the content of the paper.

The copyright of the source paper belongs to the respective authors and publishers.

Please be sure to check the original work for accurate information.

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