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Good Job Finland! New Fathers to Get as Much Paid Leave as Mothers

Good Job Finland! New Fathers to Get as Much Paid Leave as Mothers

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With the world's youngest woman Prime Minister at the helm, Finland plans to give new fathers the same amount of paternity leave as new mothers. This will double the amount of leave fathers get at the moment.

Paid allowance will increase to a combined 14 months, or 164 days per parent. Each parent would receive 6.6 months' leave and pregnant women would get an additional month's allowance.

Under the current system, mothers get 4.2 months and fathers get 2.2 months until the child turns 2. Additionally, 6 months of paternity leave can be shared between parents.

Calling it a "radical reform," Finland's Minister of Health and Social Affairs Aino-Kaisa Pekonen said they wanted to improve gender equality and at the same time help improve the declining birth rate in the country.

Birth rate has been steadily declining in Finland and fell by nearly a fifth between 2010 and 2018. They are following the example of their neighbours Sweden and Iceland, who have seen increased birth rate after introducing longer paternity leave.

Leading the world in paternity leave is Sweden, that offers parental leave with 240 days each after a baby's birth.

(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)

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