Early days – with Isabel Boltenstern
As an ex-exhaustee, she knew that life with children could be challenging. But through challenges, Isabel has focused on finding solutions, and shares them in an inspiring, liberating way!
Did you know that Norway was the first country in the world to introduce earmarked paternity leave?
Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce shared parental leave in the 1970s, but it was only after Norway’s example in the 1990s that Sweden also earmarked paternity leave. 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. Denmark, in particular, is struggling. When they removed their two(!!) weeks of earmarked paternity leave after a 4-year ‘trial’ 20 years ago, the percentage of days taken by fathers dropped again. Now it is slowly increasing, and according to Danish research, this is partly due to a change in norms, with men being inspired by other men. Another reason is that more and more employers are including the right to paternity leave in their collective agreements.
Sweden and Iceland currently have the longest paternity leave ratio in the world in their systems (3 months) and in both countries fathers take on average around 30% of total parental leave. In Denmark, around 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 the impact of parental insurance on different groups in different countries. However, there does not seem to be much research in this area.
As far as parental insurance is concerned, you can think what you like about state intervention versus the family’s own freedom of choice. However, if you generally want fathers to take parental leave from work, the fatherhood quota seems to have the desired effect.
As an ex-exhaustee, she knew that life with children could be challenging. But through challenges, Isabel has focused on finding solutions, and shares them in an inspiring, liberating way!
The US now recommends breastfeeding for two years. This is despite the fact that very few mothers are even able to breastfeed for the first six months, due to a lack of paid parental leave. The AAP announced the radical change (from 1 year to 2 years) in the midst of last summer’s compensation crisis.
WHO rekommenderar uteslutande amning under de första 6 månaderna. UNNA stödjer detta till fullo liksom fortsatt amning tillsammans med introduktion av en varierad kost enligt råd från barnhälsovården.
The WHO recommends exclusive breastfeeding for the first 6 months. UNNA fully supports this as well as continued breastfeeding along with the introduction of a varied diet as advised by child health services.