Did you know that Norway was the first country in the world to introduce earmarked paternity leave?
In the 1970s, Sweden was the first in the world to introduce divisible parental leave, but it was only after Norway's example in the 1990s that Sweden also earmarked paternity weeks. Studies seem to unanimously show that it is only when days are earmarked that it has an effect and fathers start taking leave.
Since 2000, the proportion of days taken by fathers has increased in all Nordic countries, albeit slowly. It is particularly slow in Denmark. When they removed their two(!!) weeks of earmarked paternity leave after a 4-year 'trial' 20 years ago, the proportion of days taken by fathers fell again. Now it is slowly increasing, and according to Danish research, this is partly due to a change in norms, where men are inspired by other men. Another reason is that more and more employers are writing the right to paternity leave into their collective agreements.
Sweden and Iceland currently have the longest paternity leave quota in the world in their systems (3 months) and in both countries fathers take an average of about 30% of the total parental leave. In Denmark, about 10% of parental leave is taken by fathers.
In all countries, the systems are designed according to a heterosexual nuclear family norm and there are some differences in how parental insurance works for different groups in different countries. However, there does not seem to be much research in this area.
Regarding parental insurance, you can think what you want about state interference vs. the family's own freedom of choice. But, if you generally want fathers to take parental leave from work, then a father's quota seems to have the desired effect.
