In Sweden, parents get 16 months of paid parental leave, but each parent has two months reserved, so there's two months each, and then 12 months for the couple

In Sweden, parents get 16 months of paid parental leave, but each parent has two months reserved, so there's two months each, and then 12 months for the couple to divide as they see fit. After making the changes to reserve some time for each parent, paternal leave increased, but it also sent a strong signal that fathers should perhaps take even more of the parental leave, and the national ratio is 78%/22% now, and slowly getting more equal. (Among my college-educated upper-middle-class 30+ parent friends, it's solidly 50/50) > Even if he takes a week or two 22% of 16 months is 3.5 half months of paternal leave on average. That's pretty far from "a week or two". This is exactly what I mean when I say that americans must adjust their view of paid leave first, before adressing parental leave. So one super-simple way of making it more equal is to make the parental leave completely individual. The mother gets 8 months. The father gets 8 months. You won't reach 50/50, because some fathers will still choose to work instead and forfeit the paid leave, but you'll move the ratio much further, without force. You just provide very strong incentives, which is not the same thing.