Monday, October 22, 2012

Parental Leave

There are lots of little things that you notice when you move to a new country. Here in Sweden some lettuce is sold still growing in a little pot, my dorm offers 8 different disposal options (clear glass, colored glass, plastic, paper containers, tins, newspaper/mail, compost and regular old trash), and the bank hours are terrible - you're lucky if you find a place open Mon-Sat. from 10-4. Then there are the observations that seem small and turn out to have much larger implications and policies behind them. 

When I first arrived I saw lots of people with baby carriages pushing kids around. I felt like I was in Park Slope (Brooklyn). At some point an Australian friend pointed out how many men there were pushing prams and at the park with their kids. I remembered that when I first arrived a Swedish friend had explained Parental Leave to me and I was utterly amazed. -- Parents get up to a combined total of 16 months (yes, not days, months), that is 480 days (!!!!) at an average of 82% of their income. Father's can automatically take 10 working days in connection with the birth (if it is a mother and father couple) and in cases of adoption there are also automatic days for both parents. Beyond that partners can spilt the leave in a variety of ways and take it up until the kid turns 8 years old. I have to say, this is incredible to me. I have heard of other countries where mother's can get up to 3 years off (much of it with little pay - Czech Republic), but the fact that Sweden promotes and creates policies that encourage co-parenting, I find incredible. 

Recently when I was leaving for a short trip to Finland a Swede said, "oh the Finns are like 200 years behind, you can see it in things like equality in parenting." Knowing she was exaggerating I said, "Oh my god, by comparative measure the U.S. is like 500 years behind." Again, an obvious exaggeration. Nonetheless I was thinking of a conversation I had with an NGO colleague a couple years ago. She was about to go on maternity leave and explained that she had to take "disability" after the first couple of weeks with her baby, they didn't even have a category for "maternity" leave. This has stuck with me because it felt so offensive. In addition, her organization wasn't going to hire anyone to replace her - colleagues were supposed to pick up the slack and they were in turn somewhat resentful that she planned to take more than a couple of months off. "If she was really dedicated to the work and the NGO's mission she wouldn't take so much time for her infant." 

My Rotary host's son and his wife will soon have a baby and he's looking forward to the time he will take off from his job as a lawyer to be with their child - she'll head back to work. I think he'll be making dinner so she can stay at the office as long as she needs, no matter how flexible and understanding her politically elected boss is. 

The other day I was running in the morning around 10am and saw two men sitting at a picnic table, two carriages next to them, babies bundled up inside. The smell of coffee wafted out of a thermos. 

It's interesting the things you notice when you're in a new country.