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Iceland: fewer take paternity leave

When Iceland introduced paid paternity leave in 2000 it was a huge success. New fathers welcomed the opportunity to stay at home with their children. But the trend has not continued, and fathers’ income opportunities have worsened. Families can no longer afford the cut in earnings.
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Assistant Professor Ingólfur V. Gíslason addressed the Nordic Council of Ministers during their Reykjavik conference in November 2014. He presented a study of parents’ labour market activity and the development of parental leave in Iceland. 

Parental leave in Iceland

Icelandic families are given nine months parental leave. Mothers and fathers get three months each, after which they get a further three months to share between them. Another three months of unpaid leave is available to them after that. In 2008 fathers could receive up to 535,000 Icelandic kronor (€3,470) a month, based on their salary. In 2010, in the wake of the financial crash, that ceiling was nearly halved down to 300,000 kronor (€1,945). Iceland’s government plans to increase the ceiling to 2,391 euro a month.

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