An investment in paid parental leave for fathers is also an investment in women’s career opportunities. The Nordic Council of Ministers for Gender Equality is inviting fathers from across the globe to show their support for shared and paid parental leave through the hashtag #SharetheCare.

There is no country in the world where women and men share caregiving and unpaid work equally, according to the report State of the World’s Fathers.  Paid paternity leave is one way of changing this.

The ministers for gender equality invite the fathers

This year’s CSW63 examines how countries can create gender equality through sustainable social protection systems.   On 12 March, the Nordic ministers for gender equality and Iceland’s Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir will host the debate  “The gender effect of leave and care policies – stronger with dads involved”.

Dads, make your voice heard!

The Nordic Council of Ministers is inviting dads from around the world to show their support for the right to paid parental leave on Twitter and Instagram by posting photos using the hashtag #ShareTheCare.  Dads who join the campaign get a chance to be seen and heard during the UN conference. The nicest, coolest and brightest pictures and messages from fathers around the world will be displayed during the Nordic debate on 12 March.

Gender equality starts at home

Research in the Nordic Region indicates that for each month a dad spends at home with his small children, the mom’s income increases and the gender pay gap is reduced.   Women are more likely to work part-time than men once they have children, which results in poorer career opportunities, salaries and pensions. This afflicts the whole economy.

Creates economic growth

If women participated in the labor market to the same extent as men, US GDP would increase by 5%, Japan’s GDP by 9%, and Egypt’s by 34%.  An OECD report from 2018 shows that the high level of labor market participation among women in the Nordics has accounted for 10-20% of annual GDP growth of the past 40 to 50 years.

Get involved!

Post an everyday picture of you and your kid, and tell us how parental leave makes a difference! The campaign runs between 8 March and 12 March on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram with the hashtag #ShareTheCare 

Source: www.norden.org

Photo: unsplash.com