Shortest paternity leave in Scandinavia

Danish men take less paternity leave (barsel) than their neighbours.

As the only Scandianvian country without a government-earmarked leave for men, the amount of time that fathers are taking off work to spend with their newborn children has fallen for the first time since 2002.

The average new father took 36 leave days last year as compared to 38 in 2011.

Anette Borchorst, an equality researcher at Aalborg University, said that with no government mandate, the recession and the fear of losing their jobs makes men afraid of taking too much time off.

Jyllands-Posten




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