Many countries are currently working to improve their parental leave policies and make leave available to fathers in various ways. Comparative international research has found that fathers in countries that offer earmarked, non-transferable leave have a higher take-up than in countries where such a leave design does not exist. In this book, as we were interested in how leave policies work, we approached leave use phenomenologically by studying fathers’ actual perceptions of and experiences with taking leave. From their perspectives, we aimed to gain knowledge about the connection between leave design, its use and possible impacts. In so doing, we looked at meanings, cultural frames, practices, motivations and consequences. We studied attitudes to fathers’ leave use in working life, and considered the consequences of their various uses for their work and careers, caregiving and father–child relations. We also looked out for aspects that may possibly harm the desired change process.

The studies behind the chapters span approximately 30 years. During this period parental leave policies have changed radically from a very short parental leave, where fathers could share only a few weeks with the mothers, to a long total leave, including a shared as well as an individual, earmarked period for both parents. In this concluding chapter, we will discuss the changes that we have seen happen in fatherhood and fathering over the years that the father's quota has existed, and the development towards equal quotas for both parents.

Policy works

After the introduction of the father's quota in 1993, great changes happened in a few years concerning the readiness of fathers in Norway to use the earmarked, non-transferable leave granted to them. Staying at home on leave looking after a baby has traditionally been the role of mothers. To change this heavily gendered field, policy measures such as the father's quota have proven to be important. Focusing on the connection between policy design and leave use, we have endeavoured to understand the processes behind fathers’ high take-up of the father's quota. The analyses in Part I show how the fathers have become aware of their individual rights, and they regard the father's quota as their entitlement. Over time, in granting fathers this right, the welfare state has contributed to turning leave-taking into a norm for modern fathering practices.