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Parental leave is a valuable time to build strong bonds with your child. But have you considered how the distribution of parental leave affects your future finances and equality between you and your partner? In Sweden, we have generous parental leave, but despite this, mothers take the majority of days. Let's dive into how conscious choices can change both your everyday life and your future financial opportunities.

Parental leave is a unique opportunity for both mothers and fathers to spend time with their child and build a strong relationship from the start. But the choices around parental leave also affect economic equality and the division of roles in the home. Despite the 50th anniversary of the parental leave scheme, we still face major challenges when it comes to gender equality. In 2023, men took only 30.9% of parental days, creating a clear imbalance.

Research shows that unequal take-up of parental leave can lead to greater income inequalities later in life, both in terms of pay and pensions. This is not only due to the direct loss of earnings during parental leave, but also to the impact on future career prospects and wage growth. On average, women lose around SEK 50 000 per year after having a child (!). And by the time the child enters second grade, this figure has already reached half a million euros (!!).

In addition, studies show that those who take the most parental leave also tend to take more responsibility for unpaid work at home, take more sick leave and work part-time more often. 

Sharing parental leave equally has many benefits, both for your relationship and for your children. The child will have the opportunity to build a close relationship with both parents, which can lead to stronger bonds later in life. Women's career prospects are improved and the income gap between men and women is reduced, both in terms of pay and pensions.

Parental insurance in Sweden allows you to take parental benefit for 480 days, 390 of which are based on your income. And the Parental Leave Act makes it possible to be on parental leave for even longer, but without compensation from the parental insurance. People talk about "spreading out the parental leave days" with unpaid days in order to stay at home longer. By making conscious choices about how you distribute your parental leave days and unpaid leave, you can influence your finances and gender equality for a long time to come, so that both parents can live their best lives. If you haven't yet talked about how to share parental leave, now might be the time. For example, what impact your choices might have on your career prospects, salary development, pension and relationship with your child. TCO has made a documentary film on the 50-year history of parental leave that shows how these choices affect not only your family, but also society at large. In the film, you'll find the brilliant Emma Molin who, with a twinkle in her eye, gives us a quick tour of what has happened to parental leave since parental insurance was introduced in 1974.

Watch the video here!