The way it works is that parents get 16 months (roughly) to split between them, but 2 of those are reserved for the father. If the father doesn't take them, the

The way it works is that parents get 16 months (roughly) to split between them, but 2 of those are reserved for the father. If the father doesn't take them, then the mother doesn't get them either, hence "use it or lose it". This seems to have made it acceptable for men to take paternity leave, while before it wasn't. Men have an acceptable excuse in a way. It seems to really have changed the underlying attitude to the point where taking a few months paternity leave is the norm. It has a positive feedback loop: suddenly you can see fathers in town with strollers, so that in itself makes it more acceptable. Many have argued that legislation is not the way to deal with problems like these, but on the other hand it has been very successful in its goal to shape public opinion.