Share paternity leave equally and save thousands

Today, mothers take up the vast majority of the 480 parental days. Often, the family bases this decision on the fact that whoever earns more should also work more.

But calculations by Länsförsäkringar show that an evenly distributed vacation is more profitable. A typical family that shares parental leave equally during the first year earns SEK 1,361 per month compared to a distribution where the mother takes ten months and the father two (see fact box below).

“The person who takes the most parental leave is also the person who works more and works part-time more, which negatively affects the evolution of the lifetime salary and income of the person who lives at home,” says the private economist at Länsförsäkringar. Stefan Westerberg comments, and continues:

“When a couple reaches 27 years of age, there is a difference of SEK 52,000 in annual salary between them, which means that women earn SEK 4,300 less in monthly salary than men. When they are 37, the difference rises to SEK 89,000 per year, i.e. 7,500 SEK per month.”

Stefan Westerberg refers to statistics from Statistics Norway. Calculations show that a family benefits from sharing parental leave equally even when both parents have the same income.

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