Fathers' Leave Take-Up in Finland

Motivations and Barriers in a Complex Nordic Leave Scheme

Bibliographic Data

ID3393668
AuthorsPetteri Eerola (0000-0002-9563-5871, Tampere University, corresponding author), Johanna Lammi-Taskula (0000-0003-1571-2505, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Margaret O’brien (0000-0002-9306-6871, University College London), Johanna Hietamäki (0000-0002-0387-223X, Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare), Eija Räikkönen (0000-0003-4450-9178, University of Jyväskylä)
Year2019
Volume9
Issue4
Pages215824401988538
Publication date2019-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSAGE Open (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2158-2440 • E-ISSN: 2158-2440
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2158244019885389
OpenAlexW2982322111
LanguageEN
Citations received25
References cited37

Despite being the first country in the world to introduce paternity leave in 1978, Finland's current national leave scheme is complex with regard to incentivizing fathers' take-up. Taking the unique Finnish leave scheme as a case example, this article examines fathers' motivations and barriers to leave. Although research on fathers' take-up of leave in divergent leave policy contexts has increased dramatically, fathers' motivations and barriers to leave have remained underresearched. The article reports on a survey sample of 852 Finnish fathers of infants who were taking paternity, parental, and other forms of leave, drawn from the Population Register Center. Results show that less than 20% of fathers report taking no leave, with more than 80% taking some form of leave. A multinomial logistic regression analysis indicates that father's work, partner's education, and family income, along with father's wish to take a break from work and wish to facilitate mother's return to work or studies, are the key characteristics and motivations associated with fathers' take-up of leave. The most common barriers to fathers' take-up of leave were related to the family's economic situation and the father's job. It is suggested that decreasing maternalism in the leave scheme, by extending investment in fathers' individual well-paid leave weeks, will also help promote greater gender equality for working parents in Finland following the path of Nordic neighbors

Demographic economics · Economics · Maternity leave · Multinomial logistic regression · National Longitudinal Surveys · Parental leave · Population · Sociology · Demography · Psychology · Retirement, Disability, and Employment · Social Policy and Reform Studies · Social Psychology · Work-Family Balance Challenges

Tools

Open DOISci-HubOpen Access