How Sweden became a father-friendly welfare state: The development of the Swedish parental leave policy for men and implications for South Korea

This study aims to provide a systematic examination of the development process of Swedish parental leave for fathers, and to draw the implications of this process for Korean society. The study was conducted by analyzing the process of establishing a father-friendly welfare state. Sweden originally featured a male breadwinner model, but since the 1930s it has gradually transitioned to the world's ideal welfare state and gender-equal society. This transition was made possible through a long period of Social Democrats’ rule and their optimistic views on social engineering. Sweden's male parental leave system started with the conversion of maternity insurance to parental insurance in the 1970s, and a quota system known as 'Daddy Month’ was introduced in 1995. The allocation period was extended to 60 days in 2002 and again to 90 days in 2014. Sweden has not only focused on improving women's work-family balance, but also aimed to create a father-friendly welfare state that guarantees men's family rights, that is, the right to raise children by strengthening the universal parental leave and quota system. This was the result of the long-term efforts of the Social Democrats and the Swedish government to change the traditional gender roles deeply rooted in the home and workplace, and it was the fruit of the value of gender equality through feminism settled in the political arena. This Swedish case study demonstrates the necessity to invest in a multifaceted approach to expanding male participation and raising the female employment rate. This study calls for a reflection on the goal of male parental leave reforms in Korea, the necessity to transition to universal parental insurance, as well as a paradigm shift towards social investment in the welfare state.