Introduction

The development of parental leave policies as a system to strengthen parent–child relationships was the most important area of expansion in the Norwegian welfare state during the 1990s. In this decade, the schemes were extended, and earmarked rights were granted to fathers. Since one important intention behind granting special rights to fathers was to encourage their contact with and care for children, the welfare state was acting on behalf of young children by getting fathers to take responsibility for daily caregiving. The parental leave schemes are complex, as they have to consider various factors. In this chapter, based on our first interview study, the focus is on the father's quota, which was four weeks at the time of the study. We examine two ways in which the father's quota could be taken: either alone with the child while the mother went back to full-time work, or with the mother present on either a part-time or full-time basis.

Being responsible for infant or toddler care is perhaps one of the most radical breaks with traditional father roles, and may have long-term implications for the values and practices of fathers. Previous research has focused on the consequences of parental leave for the adults (mothers, fathers and parents), especially the extent to which the parental leave schemes have changed the participation patterns of fathers and resulted in a more equal division of family and work time between mothers and fathers. What type of changes this represents for children has been much less in focus, not least because of the methodological challenges involved and the difficulties in assessing such results over time. Thus, there is still a lack of parental leave research that takes a child's perspective, seeing children as actors in their own lives. In this chapter, the fathers’ narratives are in focus, but we are primarily interested in how young children influence fathers’ care practices through interaction with their fathers in the two different situations.

Theoretical approach

The topic of men and childcare is filled with preconceptions and myths. Care is readily perceived as an ability women have and that men do not have to the same extent.