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C. Philip Hwang is a professor of Psychology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. His research focuses on child development, fatherhood, and the relationship between gender, family, and work in post-industrial societies. He currently oversees the Gothenburg Longitudinal Developmental Study (GoLD), a 30-year prospective study of Swedish families.<\/em><\/p>\n Children are happy when parents share their care. When a father is not only a source of parental love, but also a constant presence, and a partner in the joint enterprise of parenting, children benefit. But fathers’ participation in meaningful parenting, arguably the most important role a father can play in promoting early childhood development, is not a given. Historically, men were not encouraged to be caregivers or to prioritize caregiving. This is why it supports paternity leave that facilitates father involvement and encourages him to be a competent and confident parent who contributes so beneficially to the long-term well-being of children.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, American policymakers and labor professionals have struggled to design leave programs that actually help fathers care for their children, especially in the early stages of those children’s lives. Techniques from around the world that have been announced to much applause are often seen by young fathers – perhaps for cultural reasons and perhaps because they fear the consequences of experts – often do not want to take advantage of the donations they receive.<\/p>\n The following appeared in a different format on the Child and Family Blog, turning research on cognitive, social, and emotional development and family dynamics into policy and practice.<\/strong><\/p>\n That said, pushing for paternity leave and gender equality in care has not been equally successful. In Sweden and other Nordic countries, generous leave policies have been successful. These government policies speak to two powerful ideas about men, that they are most important as workers and that they can be completely excluded as caregivers.<\/p>\n The key to Scandi’s success seems to be that benefits are determined under national laws. That sends a high signal. When a set of behaviors becomes a legal expectation, it is easier to forgive on a personal level. It is also, and this is important to note, easy to get behind at work and at home. As the law created a space for men to be caretakers, men had the power to claim it as their own and women had the power to treat men as partners – with all the expectations of servants. Parental leave laws promote gender equality from two sides, encouraging all parties involved.<\/p>\n The time set aside for fathers – “fathers’ months” as they are called – has the highest uptake. This “use it or lose it” parental leave, often moved to be incompatible with maternity leave, empowers and almost empowers independence from work and home leave and thus challenges traditional attitudes in both areas. In Sweden, the introduction in 1995 of a “use-it-or-lose-it” father’s month led more fathers to take parental leave. There was also a significant increase in the number of days fathers took when a second “father’s month” was added in 2002. Now a third month has been added, and we are evaluating the impact.<\/p>\n Other design factors are also important for the successful adoption of parental leave by fathers – flexibility, a large number of days available over a long period of time, high levels of wage turnover and the use of those working in the formal and informal labor markets.<\/p>\n Along with laws and social support, comes education. Employers in countries with integrated protections and benefits for new parents are more educated about the business benefits of supporting fathers. They understand that encouraging fathers to take leave will help in the long run with employee loyalty and retention. They also understand that support for working fathers represents support for working mothers, whom they want to keep and reward.<\/p>\n Parental leave works – for both men and women – by encouraging continuous communication both at work and with children. It helps each parent to contribute to parental care and access the income and dignity that comes from participating in the labor market. However, the limited success of parental leave legislation shows that other important ingredients are needed. A change in the law that allows fathers to take family-shared parental leave (so that the mother loses that time) is ineffective and leads to lower participation by fathers.<\/p>\n Private sector buy-in is important, but it is important to remember that the broader public benefit of leave programs is the well-being of children. Fathers, it’s worth saying clearly, are important to a child’s early development. Research does not suggest that fathers are necessarily necessary for healthy child development and that children can grow up without fathers or, if so, mothers. But research shows that parenting is important for development and that parenting is a skill that takes time to master. By giving parents that time, employers and policymakers can provide clear developmental benefits for children and valuable support for working caregivers.<\/p>\n This article was originally published \n