Where Paternity Leave Is (Not) Utilized

The news of Finland's defense minister, Antti Kaikkonen, taking two months of paternity leave has brought the topic of male parental leave allowances utilization into the spotlight. Kaikkonen announced the birth of his second child in July, and commenting on his decision to take time off in early 2023, he wrote on Twitter: “Children are only small for a moment, and I want to remember it in more ways than just photographs".

As this chart using OECD data shows, Kaikkonen is far from an exception in Finland, where roughly 80 percent of live births lead to some level of paternity leave usage. While many countries by now offer a considerable length of time off for fathers, the rate at which these offers are being taken advantage of still varies greatly from country to country.

Of the 17 countries analyzed, Luxembourg had the highest rate of uptake at 95 out of 100 live births. At the other end of the scale, fathers in countries such as Austria and Hungary have a lot of catching up to do, with rates of 16 and 23, respectively.