Parental Leave 1946 Social Security Act: “Mothers who work outside of the home have a right to parental payments. A married woman, however, will receive this payment only if her husband can not provide for the family.”

Development of the Parental Leave 1954 – Women in the public sector receive three months parental leave while keeping their salary 1975 – Women in the private sector receive unemployment compensation for three months after giving birth 1980 – Fathers get the right to use the third month, if the mother so wishes 1987 – Parental leave extended to 6 months. When the mother has taken one month, the father has the right to compensation instead of the mother “if she so chooses”

Development of Parental Leave 1996 – Fathers employed by a small municipality get the right to two weeks’ leave 1997 – Fathers in the public sector get the same rights 1998 – All Icelandic fathers receive the right to two weeks’ leave 2000 – New law on parental leave including revolutionary changes

Parental Leave before 2000 – main criticisms Leave is too short Compensation too low (below minimum wage) No flexibility Not compatible with gender equality objectives Different rights for people in public and private sectors

Other important contributions Developments within the EU Gender Equality Council’s Men’s Group puts forth demands “Independent Women” Women’s Party “Public Opinion”

Parental Leave Act Leave is extended from six to nine months 2.Three months are exclusively the mother’s, three are exclusively the fathers’, and three are to be shared by the parents in the manner they choose. The exclusive months may only be transferred in the case of death before the parent has used his / her right 3.The leave may be taken over the course of 18 months 4.Those active in the labor market at the time of birth receive compensation of 80% of their average salary 5.There is a minimium compensation (floor), but no maximum (roof)** BREYTING 6.Those outside the labor market or working less than 25% receive monetary support 7.Payments come from a special fund which is made up from a share of insurance levies

What do we hope to achieve? Fathers’ increased participation in child- rearing Improved status of women in the labor market Reduced gender pay gap Improved economic status of families with children

Men’s use of leave as a proportion of women’s use ,4% ,5% (preliminary) fást endanlegar tölur núna??? ,9% (preliminary)

Percentage using less than their exclusive right MenWomen 20014,8%0,9% ,9%0,8% ,2%1,0%

Percentage using more than their exclusive right MenWomen ,7%94,2% ,6%93,2% ,3%90,9%

Average number of days used MenWomen

Contiguous or fragmented leave ContiguousFragmented Men ,1%54,9% Men ,3%77,7% Men ,5%75,5% Women ,0%29,0% Women ,1%35,9% Women ,9%40,1%

Pay Gap In 2001 mothers’ wages were 58,2% of fathers’ salaries In 2002 mothers’ wages were 60,2% of fathers’ wages In 2003 mothers’ wages were 61,2% of fathers’ wages

Opinion Surveys Gallup survey conducted March 2003: 85% believe it is positive that men use their right to 3-6 months parental leave. 99% believe it is positive that mothers use the same right. Women have a more positive outlook on fathers’ use than men do Younger people are more positive than older ones. 73.7% of employers are positive

Opinion Surveys Gallup survey conducted September – October % support the law 10% believe it is difficult for women to take 3-6 months leave 20% believe it is difficult for men to take leave for 3 months, 43.7% that it is difficult for them to take leave for 6 months Employers believe it is much more difficult for a man to take six months’ leave than it is for a woman

Thank you!