THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: The Swedish parliament has voted to give couples where the father takes over caring for the baby a 'gender equality bonus' of 3,000 Swedish Kronor (£287) each month, on top of existing paternity benefits set at 80 per cent of salary.
The Swedish vote comes as the UK's coalition government is seeking to roll back an earlier pledge to change the UK system so that British parents can share leave, as they do in Sweden.
"The government wants parents to share more equally in their parental leave, so that women aren't discriminated against on the labour market," said Niklas Löfgren, a spokesman for Sweden's Social Insurance Agency. "It is also to ensure that the father gets a closer relationship to the child at an earlier stage of its life." » | Richard Orange, Malmö | Monday, October 17, 2011
