Jämställd föräldraförsäkring? En rättspolitisk utredning om fördelning av föräldraledigheten ur ett genusperspektiv

Sammanfattning: Sweden has one of the world's most generous parental insurance. The parental insurance is designed to be gender neutral, but despite this, women take out more than 75 percent of the parental leave. The purpose of this paper is to, from a gender rights scientific perspective, investigate whether an individualised parental leave should be introduced and to conduct a gender-critical legal policy study of law by applying feminist theories on it. The essay begins with a description of the regulation of parental leave from an historical perspective in Sweden and a description of how the regulation has evolved. When women entered the working market a need for legislation that regulated the situation for women in pregnancy and childbirth arose. In 1962 a maternity insurance that gave all women compensation for lost income was introduced. As women increasingly entered the working market and a thought of equality began to permeate society a discussion on a reformed legislation arose. In 1974 the maternity insurance was converted into a parental insurance, which in return led to both women and men being able to partake. In 1974, only 0.5 percent of all parental leave days were paid out to men, which further demonstrates that the distribution between the parents was warped. In 1995, Sweden introduced 30 days of compensation that was reserved for each individual parent and these particular days were called paternity month. The number of fathers who took out days increased, but the number of utilised days per father fell. Seven years later an additional paternity month was introduced, which resulted in fathers' increasing their amount of parental days. Equality regarding parental leave has been improving, yet the problem persists. In 2013, males accounted for 24.8 percent of the parental leave, whilst women accounted for 75.2 percent. If taking in to consideration that only the days that fathers are on parental leave during the first two years are studied, the picture is different, since the fathers then accounts for 9 percent the first year and 17 percent the second year. Approximately 25 percent of all fathers do not charge a single day with parental leave during the child’s first two years. Parents are entitled to half of the parental leave days each, but a parent can transfer all their days, except for 60, to the other parent. Despite the opportunities for parents to share the parental leave equally, the sharing is not equal. What are the pros and cons with an individualised parental leave? An argument not to revise the law is the individual's freedom to make its own decisions. However, there are critics who argue that these types of decision are taken on the basis of ingrained gender roles. Several theorists argue that gender is a social construct and that genetics thus cannot explain women and men's different qualities. By considering this approach it indicates that an individualised parental leave is desirable. Legislation is considered to have a normative effect, but there is a dis-agreement about the extent to which it is possible to use the law to change people's values, beliefs and behaviors. Another argument that is usually presented when individualised parental benefits are discussed is pointing towards the family economy would worsen if more men would use the parental insurance. However, studies have shown that it is the families who would make a financial loss if the father stayed at home that has actually used this opportunity, while those family’s that would not significantly be affected chose not to share the parental leave. There are studies that show that there are positive effects for men if they increase their use of parental leave. There are employers who believe that fathers' parental leave increases the father’s social competence. There is a distinct connection between fathers’ involvement and children’s development, but if the mother is at home together with the father, his role does not become as significant. More than a third of Sweden's population lives in a family constellation that is not a nuclear family. There is a risk that the individualisation of parental insurance would not fit in these types of family constellations. Reforms for equality have in the past proven to be effective for women's emancipation. The transition from joint taxation to individual taxation made it worth it for women to work. An individualised parental insurance would result in women getting a better position on the working market, because the statistical discrimination against women would decrease and it would also lead to women's pensions and wages would increase and they could also work full-time to a greater extent. After weighing pros and counterarguments with an individualised parental against each other, it is clear that it is not obvious that a solution like that is the best option. It is important to take into consideration what people think when introducing radical legislative changes, to make the law effective and legitimate. The question is whether it is possible to assume that people think rationally, or if people's habitual thought patterns based on normative beliefs stand in the way of a revised legislation. The essay’s last question asks what impact the current arrangements regarding parental leave has for the gender equality. In order to strengthen the position of women as a part of the workforce a system that allows more consistent use of parental days than today is required, and to achieve this goal, we need a revised legislation. One possible solution is an individualisation of parental insurance. Another solution is a three-part insurance. One problem with such division may be that it is not adapted for other types of family constellations than the classic nuclear family. Another option is to increase the number of reserved months. There are no arguments good enough not to speed this process up. The gender-neutral legislation does not reflect on the actual division of parental leave and the legislature must use their power to further develop the legislation. An individualised parental insurance, or the introduction of more reserved months, is going to be beneficial for both men and women.