Father's quota

The father's quota (Norwegian, fedrekvote), also referred to as the "daddy quota" in English,[1][2] is a policy instrument used in Norway, Sweden and Iceland[3] which reserves a part of the parental leave period for fathers (i.e. paternity leave). If the father does not take leave, the family loses the leave period reserved for fathers.[4] The quota, which originally comprised four weeks, was introduced by the Labour government on 1 April 1993. Norway was the first ever country to introduce a father's quota in 1993 followed by Sweden in 1995.[5] Since 2005, the Norwegian quota has been increased and decreased several times, and currently is at 10 weeks each for both mothers and fathers as of 1 July 2014, put in order by the Conservative party. In Sweden the quota was increased from 8 to 12 weeks on 1 Jan 2016. In connection with birth it is common for the father to get 2 weeks paid off work, but this is not related to parental leave or the fathers quota and is normally covered by the employer.

History

Adjustments of the Norwegian father's quota over the years

Political background

Starting with Sweden in 1974 and with Norway following in 1978, equal rights of access to parental leave for both father and mother was guaranteed by law, although in practice it was more common for the mother to take advantage of the full parental leave.[7] In 1993, parental leave benefits was expanded with four weeks reserved for the father. The background for this was a wish for more fathers to take part in the parental leave period.[8] Paternity leave was passed by the Parliament on a proposal from Gro Harlem Brundtlands Labor Party against the Conservative Party and the Progress Party votes. When the Conservative Party was in Parliament with the Christian Democratic Party and the Liberal Party, the party was involved in extending the paternity leave from four to five weeks.[9]

Stoltenberg government (majority government consisting of the Labour Party, the Centre Party and the Socialist Left Party) declared in the first Soria Moria declaration in 2005 that they wanted to expand the paternal quota to ten weeks and in the Soria Moria 2 Declaration in 2009 this extended to 14 weeks. The expansion occurred in several stages, again against the Conservatives and the Progress Party votes.[10] Furthermore, the parental leave was threefolded following a pattern from Sweden and Iceland. This division meant that 9 weeks became reserved for the mother, 14 weeks became reserved for the father, and the remaining weeks can be freely shared between the parents. The remaining part is 26 or 36 weeks, depending on whether parents choose 100 or 80 per cent pay in the benefit period. If the mother or father chooses not to take out their part of the leave, their part cannot be transferred or used by the other part.[11]

An agreement from 30 September 2013 between the incoming government parties Conservatives, the Progress Party, the Liberal Party and the Christian Democratic Party stated that the paternal quota should be set at 10 weeks and that it should introduce a trust-based exception scheme makes it possible to transfer all or part of the leave. This was suggested as a compromise of the Christian Democratic Party, after the Conservatives and Progress in the negotiations had wanted a full abolition. Exception criteria will be linked to eg. disease, unemployed fathers under maternal maternity leave, fathers working abroad, self-employed / sole shareholder and maternal employment. 1 July 2014 the father's quota was officially reduced from 14 to 10 weeks.[12]

Controversy

The father's quota has been a highly controversial topic, and the largest opposition parties, the Conservative Party and the Progress Party, has had a wish to abolish it completely. They feel that the individual families should be able to decide for themselves how they would like to divide the parental leave period. The purpose of the fathers quota has been to contribute to a more equal distribution of care taking between mothers and fathers and is supposed to change the relationship between mother and father, between employer and employees of both sexes, and between father and child.[13] The quota has been criticized by some psychological and medical researchers, who argue that it is based on ideology rather than research and warn that it might have negative effects for children.[14][15][16]

According to a 2010 poll for Norway's largest daily Aftenposten, 66% of Norwegians want to abolish the father's quota, while only 28% support it (7% had no opinion).[17] Research by Statistics Norway, however, show that parents with young children were very positive to the father's quota both in 1993 when it was first introduced, and in 2010 when the quota had grown from 4 to 10 weeks. Only 5% of mothers and 3% of fathers were against the father's quota.[18] The average part of paternity leave used by fathers has increased steadily with the fathers's quota, and in 2010 the average father took more leave than the designated quota weeks.[19] Before the law was passed in 1993, only about 3% of fathers took paternity leave. Now about 90% of fathers take at least 12 weeks of paternity leave which is a very significant increase.[20]

Scholarly debate

Professor of Paediatrics Trond Markestad argues that it is better for small children that their mothers have the primary responsibility for caring for them. He also argues that that it can be detrimental for small children to have their mother replaced as primary caregiver, emphasizing that continuity is important to small children. Markestad believes the interests of the child are not compatible with the father's quota.[14]

Anne Bærug, head of the National Centre for Breastfeeding at Oslo University Hospital, says that:

"from a professional point of view, the mother should be secured the right to stay at home with the child for at least eight months after birth, in order to fully breastfeed for six months, and gradually introduce other food during the next two months."[15]

Internationally renowned Norwegian obstetrician Gro Nylander considers the increases of the father's quota to be absurd:

"In the midst of self-satisfaction with the father's quota, the reality is that a new father is secured twelve weeks of leave after birth, while the mother is only secured six, according to the law. How on earth did the man become the main person after birth?"[15]

Human biologist and researcher on human behavioral ecology Terje Bongard states that "women are more concerned about their children than men. That's how we are naturally selected. It has taken hundreds of thousands of years to develop the our emotional life. There is no way to turn it off with a political decision." According to Bongard, it may have harmful effects for children to take the leave period from mothers and give to fathers.[16]

Psychologist Leif Edward Ottesen Kennair believes the father's quota is indefensible from a psychological point of view, and argues that "we must at the very least ask ourselves what the consequences will be when we make a childhood environment that differs from what our species has evolved into." Ottesen Kennair believes the father's quota is "based on ideology, and only to an extremely limited extent on knowledge," arguing that it is "a social experiment, the effects of which are unknown."[16]

Literary theorist Jørgen Lorentzen and sociologist Øystein Gullvåg Holter have supported the father's quota, arguing that it makes fathers "caring and present."[21] Jørgen Lorentzen characterized the opinions of Bongard and Ottesen Kennair as "bio fascism" and "psycho nonsense," stating that they should "abdicate as researchers."[22]

A study conducted by several economicts (Jon H. Fiva et al.) found that the father's quota has not contributed to promoting gender equality. The study found that the quota led to women working less, that it did not contribute to equal pay, and that it did not appear to alter the distribution of tasks in the home.[23][24][25]

References

  1. ↑ "Modern daddy: Norway's progressive policy on paternity leave". Ilo.org. 2005-07-01. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  2. ↑ "Norway's welfare model 'helps birth rate'". BBC News. 2006-03-28. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  3. ↑ June Westerweld (29 October 2012): Norske fedre i særstilling i Europa (Norwegian) Aftenposten, retrieved 28 June 2013
  4. ↑ "Paternal quota". NAV.no. 03.12.15. Retrieved 04.16.15. Check date values in: |access-date=, |date= (help)
  5. ↑ 1. Haas 2. Rostgaard, 1. Linda 2. Tine (May 2011). "Fathers' rights to paid parental leave in the Nordic countries: consequences for the gendered division of leave". Community, Work & Family. doi:10.1080/13668803.2011.571398.
  6. ↑ Mer midler til familievernet og samlivstiltak. Barne-, likestillings- og inkluderingsdepartementet (8 November 2013)
  7. ↑ Barne-, likestillings- og inkluderingsdepartementet. "8.1.1 Historisk utvikling i begrunnelser for permisjonsrettigheter: vern av kvinner i arbeidslivet, likestilling mellom kjønnene og omsorg for barn". NOU 1996. Regjeringen.no. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
  8. ↑ http://www.regjeringen.no/nb/dep/bld/dok/nouer/1995/nou-1995-27/4/3/6.html?id=338275
  9. ↑ http://www.regjeringen.no/Rpub/OTP/20042005/098/PDFS/OTP200420050098000DDDPDFS.pdf
  10. ↑ http://www.hegnar.no/kvinner/article707143.ece
  11. ↑ Barne-, likestillings- og inkluderingsdepartementet. "Politikk for likestilling". NOU 2012. Regjeringen.no. Retrieved 2013-07-09.
  12. ↑ Mer midler til familievernet og samlivstiltak. Barne-, likestillings- og inkluderingsdepartementet (8 November 2013)
  13. ↑ "Fedrekvoten som universalmiddel for likestilling". Forskning.no. 28 December 2010. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
  14. 1 2 "Valgfrihet for barnas skyld". Dagbladet. 2009-08-18. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  15. 1 2 3 "Vil gi mor åtte måneder etter fødsel". Dagsavisen. 2010-11-01. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  16. 1 2 3 "Kvinner er mer opptatt av barna sine enn menn, sier forsker". Aftenposten. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  17. ↑ "To av tre spurte sier nei til pappakvote". Aftenposten. Retrieved 2011-06-22.
  18. ↑ Horn Bringedal, K. & Lappegård, T. "Småbarnsforeldre sier ja til fedrekvote". Retrieved 2013-07-09.
  19. ↑ Horn Bringedal, K. & Lappegård, T. "Likere deling av foreldrepermisjonen" (1). Retrieved 2013-07-09.
  20. ↑ Chemin, Anne (19 July 2011). "Norway, the fatherland". the guardian. Retrieved 16 April 2015.
  21. ↑ Jørgen Lorentzen; Øystein Gullvåg Holter (2010-11-03). "God familiepolitikk". Aftenposten. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  22. ↑ Tor H. Monsen. "Hvem er redd Charles Darwin?". Universitetsavisa. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  23. ↑ "Fire uker pappaperm økte ikke mors arbeidsdeltakelse" (in Norwegian). Statistics Norway. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  24. ↑ "Jeg tror veien å gå er å utvide fedrekvoten ytterligere". Aftenposten. Retrieved 2011-07-03.
  25. ↑ Cools, Sara; Fiva, Jon H.; Kirkebøen, Lars Johannessen (2011). Causal effects of paternity leave on children and parents. Discussion Papers 657. Statistics Norway.
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