Paternity in Sweden
A few months ago, I read this article in the New York Times about the rise of paternity leave in Sweden from its initiation in the 70s to its near universal adoption nowadays. It talked about the social changes it's brought about in the country. When I read that article, I thought it was a pretty neat system, but underestimated the social impact.
Yesterday, I went to the university for the first time. I took a bus roundtrip in the middle of the day. Its wide berth area was packed with strollers both times, a total of five 20- to 30-year-old parents with their kids. And four of them -- two outbound, two inbound -- were men. It was just really weird to see. Yet there were the guys, talking to each other and tending to their kids' dropped toys and tangled clothes. I know it's only anecdotal, but it made a striking impression on me to see so many male caregivers. It was cute and pretty damn awesome. That NYT article was not overstating matters at all.
Yesterday, I went to the university for the first time. I took a bus roundtrip in the middle of the day. Its wide berth area was packed with strollers both times, a total of five 20- to 30-year-old parents with their kids. And four of them -- two outbound, two inbound -- were men. It was just really weird to see. Yet there were the guys, talking to each other and tending to their kids' dropped toys and tangled clothes. I know it's only anecdotal, but it made a striking impression on me to see so many male caregivers. It was cute and pretty damn awesome. That NYT article was not overstating matters at all.