Cecilia Machado: The month of fathers

Despite progress in reducing gender inequalities over the last few decades, some social norms – patterns, attitudes and tacit behaviors accepted at a given time and place – remain intact. Among them, the role of fathers and mothers in the care of children.

Even in progressive countries, where the paid leave of both parents after the birth of the child is allowed, the leave continues to be exercised by the mothers. And time devoted to household chores, including time with children, remains higher among women.

Considering that the birth of a child adversely impacts the salary trajectory and professional career of women (but not of men), and that fathers and mothers are equally able to care for their children, there would be some space for interventions or public policies that make the removal from parents’ work to care for young children? And would parental leave lead to a more equal division of responsibilities between men and women over time, fostering gender equality in the private (home) and public (work) spheres?

An important example comes from Sweden, which in 1995 increased incentives for fathers to take paternity leave. The reform reserved one month of leave (out of a total period of 15 months) for each parent, so that if the leave was not taken by one of them, the family as a whole would lose the right to one month of paid leave. .

The incentive introduced by the reform changed the choices made by families: in response to it, parents began to take leave at the exact time allotted to them, the father’s month.

But while the reform has induced greater parental involvement in the care of young children, the long-term effects have been disappointing. The reform was unable to sustain a change in parental time allocation after the end of leave. In addition, the reform was responsible for the increase in divorces that occur up to 3 years after the birth of the baby. In the case at hand, the intervention may have led to additional conflicts within the family, affecting the stability of relationships when couples are forced to deviate from their original plans dictated by entrenched social norms.

A misreading of these results seems to indicate that public policies are unlikely to be able to change social norms, and that even well-intentioned policies can generate distinct and unanticipated consequences. But that was just the beginning of an enormous transformation, still ongoing, in the country’s social norms.

A new reform in 2002 that expanded incentives for parents to take the second month of leave — similarly reserving two months of leave for each parent — did not identify adverse effects on divorce as seen in the 1995 reform. .

The Swedish experience shows that changes that antagonize what is socially accepted lead to important behavioral changes within the household, and that these changes need to be taken into account when designing public policies. But it is also only through these changes that the convergence of norms becomes socially accepted. After all, the increase in time devoted to children (from one to two months) in families where the father already takes leave represents a small social change compared to that in which the increase in time (from zero to one month) of care occurs in families in which the parents do not take any leave.

It is worth remembering that Sweden has had a leave policy that is gender-neutral – both fathers and mothers can take leave – since 1974. But it was only with the incentives provided by recent legislation that social norms were able to evolve. In Brazil, leave policies remain gender-specific (maternity leave of 120 days and paternity leave of 5 days), reinforcing the stereotype that women are still most responsible for the care of children.

It is difficult to see here any convergence in social norms in favor of greater gender equality while paternity leave runs its course of 5 days, with no incentive for greater involvement of parents in the care of young children.