This document compares parental leave policies between Sweden and the United States. Sweden implemented paid parental leave in the 1970s that could be taken by both parents, and in 1995 introduced a month of dedicated paternity leave. In contrast, the United States only guarantees unpaid leave through the FMLA, and historically women have taken on most childcare responsibilities due to social and policy factors. These differences in parental leave legislation and norms have led to diverging views of gender roles between the two countries over time.

1. TRANSNATIONAL
PRESENTATION
By: Jessica Laird

2. THESIS
• I will be comparing the legislation laws and community norms on parental leave for
newborns between Sweden and the United States.
• I will be focusing on how parental leave is distributed to the parents, specifically
heterosexual couples, and what these differences say about the country’s views on
gender roles.

3. HISTORY AND POLICIES
Sweden
• After World War II the nation started to
encourage women to stay in the work force
to fill the labor force gap.
• In the 1970s, paid parental leave replaced
paid maternity leave so both parents could
take time off for work.
• In 1995, “daddy leave” was issued which
designated a month of leave only to
fathers.
United States
• After World War II many white, European
immigrants came and filled the gap in the work
force, and women went back to their households.
• In 1978, women finally had ability to have leave
with job security after the Pregnancy Discrimination
Act stated pregnancy should be treated as a
temporary disability.
• In 1993, the Family and Medical Leave Act was
placed and was the first parental leave policy that
protects either parent’s job if they decide to take
leave.
• Though the FMLA promises job protection, it is
unpaid leave.

4. FMLA
REQUIREMENTS
Not every family is covered by the FMLA.
1) Workers must be with the company for at
least twelve months and have worked over
1250 hours within that year.
2) Any businesses employing under fifty
workers are not affected by the FMLA.
3) The highest paid 10% of salaried
employees may be excluded from
coverage at the employer’s discretion.
(Parry 2001, 75-76).

5. WHAT CAUSES THESE DIFFERENCES?
• Since women were introduced into the work force (with jobs that were not temporary) in
Sweden much sooner than the United States, this gave Sweden a time advantage in gaining
equality between the genders.
• Example: Before “daddy leave” was in place, both parents had access to parental leave, but traditional roles
still played a strong part in deciding which parent took leave. Sweden wanted more gender neutrality so
one month of leave was only accessible to the fathers, and this increased the amount of fathers taking
leave by 80% (Bennhold, 2017).
• The United State’s government is not as involved as Sweden’s government. Swedes
historically have been optimistic with government forces involvement with welfare (Parry,
82). Alternatively, Americans have historically wanted the federal government to have a small
amount of control over the nation. If the amount of state intervention affects the quality of
leave policies, then state intervention is also plays a part in the social construction of gender
roles.
• Since the US government is more removed from parental leave policies, and do not require paid leave,
when parents need to take time off for the children who ever is payed less stays home. In the United States
a woman’s salary is typically lower, and therefore, makes more sense for her to stay home while the father
works.

6. IN CONCLUSION,
• In conclusion, it is clear that gender roles are seen differently between the United States and
Sweden, when looking at which partner takes time off of work to care for a newborn child.
• The difference in perception of gender roles could be due to how a nation was policed
through legislative laws. Sweden’s hands on approach to dividing the parental leave
regulated the community’s view on who is responsible for newborn care responsibilities, and
in result created a more equality in the gender roles.
• The United States approach is more removed, and in result their policies do little to change
the traditional views of gender roles, in caring for a newborn.
• The nation’s view points on gender roles were socially constructed not only by the history
that the nation experienced, but also the regulations and policies that were placed in that
specific nation that later policed how the community saw gender roles after childbirth.

7. REFERENCES
Bennhold, K. (2017). In Sweden, Men Can Have It All. [online] Nytimes.com Available at :
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/10/world/europe/10iht-
sweden.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=homepage&src=me [Accessed 31 Jul.
2017].
• Parry, Janine A. 2001. "Family Leave Policies: Examining Choice and Contingency
In Industrialized Nations." NWSA Journal 13 (3): 70-94.
https://search.proquest.com/docview/233238057?accountid=14522.
• Spakes, Patricia. 1992. "National Family Policy: Sweden Versus the United
States." Affilia 7 (2):44. https://search.proquest.com/docview/13025282
26?accountid=14522.
• Zagorsky, Jay L. "Divergent Trends in US Maternity and Paternity Leave, 1994-
2015." American Journal of Public Health 107, no. 3 (03, 2017): 460-465.
https://search.proquest.com/docview/1861583568?accountid=14522

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