1 Parental Leave and Gender Inequality in the United States, Japan, and Sweden Megan Naude Work-family balance

is a universal issue that all working mothers and fathers encounter. While some countries have established federal policies offering paid leave from work to parents, these policies range in generosity of funding, duration, and eligibility. Upon further evaluation, these policies are strongly connected to gender norms and inequality in the respective countries. Additionally, the extent to which a society values masculine behaviors is correlated with the scope of parental leave. This paper will explore the parental leave policies in the United States, Japan, and Sweden. I will summarize the policies of each country, look into the inequality of men and women in the workplace as well as in the home, and relate Hofstedes masculinity scores to the cultural view of gender. I will conclude that parental leave policies in the United States, Japan, and Sweden reflect gender traditions and the degree of masculinity in the countries, and they influence gender inequality in the workplace. The policies for parental leave in the United States on the federal level come from the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA), implemented in 1993. The FMLA mandates that employees are entitled to twelve weeks of unpaid leave to care for a newborn, adopted child, or foster child. Organizations with fifty or more employees are covered under the act, but several states have added legislation to include all employees in the policies. Workers under the FMLA must have worked for at least 1250 hours in the previous twelve months before taking leave in order to guarantee job security upon return. Additionally, when possible employees must give a thirty day notice to their employers before leave is taken. Men are included under the FMLA, and they are also entitled to twelve weeks of unpaid job-secured leave given the same minimum hours

2 worked and notice given. As another option, men and women can take leave in the form of reduced weekly hours if their employer agrees to the adjustment of their schedules (ILO, 2012). While the federal parental leave policy stipulates unpaid leave, a handful of states offer paid leave to new parents. New Jersey and New York include maternity leave through their disability insurance, and California funds parental leave through payroll taxes. In Hawaii employers can elect to substitute paid leave, and Washington has begun to design a program to fund parental leave (ILO, 2012). California provides an interesting example of paid parental leave in the United States and shows the results that other states can expect if the government was to move toward a federal paid policy. In 2004, the Paid Family Leave program was implemented in California, giving mothers and fathers six weeks of paid leave at up to fifty-five percent of their salary to spend time with their new children. Despite concerns about financial burdens, Californian businesses have not experienced many significant negative effects of this new policy. In fact, many businesses report lower turnover and higher employee satisfaction which can increase the productivity of workers and save organizations money spent on assessing, selecting, and training new employees (Gomby & Pei, 2009). The program is financed by a .08 percent increase in state disability insurance contributions from employee paychecks (ILO, 2012). An assessment of U.S. parental leave policies shows that the current laws fall short in terms of best practices. Ray, Gornick, and Schmitt (2008) determine best practices using five criteria generous paid leave, non-transferable quotas of leave for each parent, universal coverage combined with modest eligibility restrictions, financing structures that pool risk among many employers, and scheduling flexibility. The FMLA does not provide any paid leave, and although twelve weeks of unpaid leave are mandated, many employees cannot take advantage of these benefits because of restrictions on organization size and job tenure. While U.S. policies include non-transferability

3 between parents, the social-insurance financing of the few states that include paid is not up to international standards. Finally, the FMLA does not guarantee or encourage schedule flexibility, and the employee is left alone to negotiate this with his or her employer (Ray, Gornick, & Schmitt, 2008). Given the population and economic power of the United States, the parental leave policies are limited and weak. Japanese federal maternity leave policies are outlined in the Labor Standards Act of 1947. Women can take up to fourteen weeks of leave from work, with six weeks taken before the birth of a child and eight weeks taken after the birth. Women carrying multiple fetuses are entitled to an additional eight weeks of leave before the birth of their children. Under the Act on the Welfare of Workers Who Take Care of Children or Other Family Members Including Child Care and Family Care Leave, men and women are given another ninety-three days of leave to care for a child. Employees who have previously shortened their working hours in order to facilitate the balancing of work and family responsibilities receive less than ninety-three days. To qualify for this parental leave, employees must be employed on a permanent basis, have been employed with the organization for at least one year, and be likely to be employed again after the maximum leave has been taken (ILO, 2012). The emphasis on the return to the workplace is furthered with the system for paid leave in Japan. Men and women who take leave under the Act on the Welfare of Workers Who Take Care of Children etc. receive thirty percent of their wages while on leave, and receive another ten percent of their pre-leave wage upon returning to work after their leave is over. This bonus encourages mothers and fathers to return to the employer instead of taking advantage of the provided leave by immediately resigning when the maximum time allotted is reached. One eighth

4 of paid parental leave is financed by the National Treasury, and the rest is covered by payments that the worker and the employer make to the Employment Insurance Fund (ILO, 2012). Japan is far behind other parental leave policies in terms of non-transferability between parents, as only one parent can take leave. Since women tend to be concentrated in the nontraditional work sector and earn lower wages than men do, mothers often are the ones who end up taking leave (OECD, 2003). The fact that only thirty percent of wages are paid while on leave means that women can collect minimum amounts of benefits which are rarely enough to support a family. Additionally, flexibility of scheduling is discouraged because any part-time scheduling during maternity leave leads to extra days being taken out of the additional parental leave (ILO, 2012). Although Japans parental leave laws are superior to those of the United States in terms of a federal paid system, they are not truly generous policies because of the inflexibility and gender inequality that is involved. Sweden has long been known for its extensive parental leave policies. The Parental Leave Act gives women fourteen weeks of maternity leave, seven before the birth and seven after the birth, and two of these fourteen weeks are compulsory. There are no restrictions as to how long a woman must be employed by an organization before taking maternity leave. Women must give employers sixty days notice of her leave, but only in cases where they are able to do so. Additionally, employees who are expecting a child and cannot perform physically demanding work duties can be transferred to other types of work while still remaining employed and retaining their benefits. Men are also entitled to ten days of leave after the birth or adoption of a child (ILO, 2012).

5 The Swedish Public Insurance Act gives both men and women additional parental leave benefits outside of initial maternity and paternity leave. Paid leave is provided to parents for 480 days and can be split between the mother and father if they have joint custody of the child. A parent with sole custody of a child is entitled to the entire 480 days of paid leave. Additionally, sixty days of this leave are allocated specifically to fathers (ILO, 2010). Parental leave can be taken at any time up until the child is eight years of age (Killian, 2011). During their leave, men and women can receive eighty percent of their salaries if they have been insured for at least 240 consecutive calendar days. This compensation is provided for 390 calendar days; after this time parents are paid 60 SEK per day for the remaining 90 days. Benefits are paid for by social insurance funds (ILO, 2012). When judged on Ray, Gornick, and Schmitts (2008) five best practices criteria, Sweden earns the title for one of the strongest parental leave systems in the world. Leave benefits are very generous at eighty percent salary, and the Swedish daddy months are non-transferable between parents. There are no eligibility restrictions for maternity leave, and the insurance coverage restrictions for maximum parental leave benefits are minimal. Furthermore, the policies allow for flexibility, as pregnant women can be transferred to alternate work while retaining their employment, and the 480 days of parental leave can be split between the two parents (ILO, 2012). Sweden certainly earns its outstanding reputation when it comes to parental leave generosity. The differences in the parental leave policies in the United States, Japan, and Sweden can be related to gender roles and inequality in these countries. Trends in employment rates and wage earnings between men and women reflect gender norms and traditional roles. The Hofstede masculinity score can also be tied in with these factors and portrays the differences in gender roles in these countries.

6 Japans inflexible parental leave policies connect to the great amount of gender inequality in the workplace as well as the high masculinity score. Women make up the majority of the nonregular work sector in Japan. Non-regular work includes part-time, contract, subcontract, and agency temporary work. On average, these workers make about half as much as regular workers earn, and they are much more likely than regular workers to be dismissed without warning (Weathers, 2009). The Japanese 1986 Equal Opportunity Law still allows employers to advertise positions that are specifically for women, which helps to limit women to this non-regular sector. Since only one parent can take parental leave, the common trend is for the higher paid father to stay at work and support the family while the non-regular working mother takes time off to care for the child (OECD, 2003). Since many non-regular workers are not eligible for the ten percent bonus upon returning to work, mothers in this sector rarely have any incentive to return to the employer after taking their maternity leave. Consequently, seventy percent of married women in Japan leave the workforce after the birth of their first child. This severely limits the progression of womens careers in the business world which is proven by the fact that women make up only nine percent of managerial positions in Japan. This presents another contribution to the thirty-three percent wage gap between Japanese men and women. Unsurprisingly, many Japanese have adopted the view that men belong in the workplace while women should be at home. In a 1997 survey, sixty percent of Japanese men and women said that they thought that women should stay home from work when they have young children. Additionally, just over fifty percent of Japanese citizens believe that men and women should both contribute to a familys income; many thought that men should be the sole provider for the family (OECD, 2003).

7 Geert Hofstede defines masculinity as a preference in society for achievement, heroism, assertiveness, and material reward for success. Citizens of countries with high masculinity scores are likely to be competitive and to work diligently to get ahead. Japan has a masculinity score of ninety-five, one of the highest in the world (Hofstede, 2012). Japanese men live up to this masculine image, as the average hours worked per week is 43.1, and only 22.6 percent of husbands get home from work before 7:00 P.M. in Tokyo (Morrone & Matsuyama, 2010). It is much more difficult for women to fit into the masculine work society, as the amount of time taken for maternity leave to care for children prevents them from climbing the corporate ladder. Additionally, Japanese men spend an average of forty-eight minutes per day doing domestic work and twenty-five minutes per day caring for children, so women are left to take care of the majority of these responsibilities (Morrone & Matsuyama, 2010). Many Japanese women struggle to keep up with the high competition in the masculine Japanese world. The Swedish trend of gender equality is quite different from that of Japan. Considered one of the countries with the least gender inequality, the median gender wage gap in Sweden is eleven percent (ITUC, 2009). Although men still dominate the private sector, the gender balance is more equal in the public sector. For example, the Swedish parliament in 2002 was made up of forty-five percent women and fifty-five percent men (Division for Gender Equality, 2004). This is not to say that gender inequality has completely disappeared in Sweden. Mothers still take on the majority of parental responsibility, causing a gender gap in authority at work (Almqvist, Sandberg, & Dahlgren, 2011; Bygren & Gahler, 2007). Women have higher demands at home so they are more likely to take on less demanding work roles. This leads to a greater male presence in authoritative positions such as CEOs and managers. This trend, however, has been changing in recent years as

8 gender inequality continues to diminish, and a major contributing factor to this may be the parental leave policies (Bygren & Gahler, 2007). The flexibility of the long period of paid parental leave in Sweden encourages couples to coordinate a plan for leave together. Mothers and fathers consistently decide on a parental leave plan together and exercise equal voice in this process (Almqvist, Sandberg, & Dahlgren, 2011). While sixty days of the 480 day leave must be taken by fathers, the rest of the time can be taken flexibly between mothers and fathers. This includes the opportunity to reduce work schedules and take turns staying home from work; leave can also be spread out through the first eight years of a childs life. This leaves parents with many options for how to handle their work and family responsibilities. For example, mothers and fathers can take turns taking a month of leave so that neither parent has to fall behind or lose momentum at work. Another alternative is to reduce work hours to a part-time schedule for a few years in order to be able to spend time with the child as he or she grows up. The ability for the mother to pass on some of her childcare responsibilities to the father has made great changes to womens opportunities in the workplace. Research shows that for every month of leave a father takes, a mothers earnings increase by seven percent. This has a significant impact on womens potential to move ahead in their careers. Hofstedes masculinity score for Sweden is five, which makes Sweden a very feminine country. This means that caring for others and quality of life are among the top priorities in Swedish society. Swedes value work-life balance and engage in compromise when it comes to work decisions (Hofstede, 2012). This compromise carries over into the home and family life regarding parental roles and responsibilities. Since the implementation of the Swedish daddy months, there has been a cultural change in traditional gender norms. Men are no longer seen as just the breadwinner, but are expected to take on a role in raising children and being a good father

9 as well. Many Swedish men are happy to put their work aside and spend time with their children; eighty percent of fathers take at least one third of the 480 day leave, and nine percent of fathers take 40 percent or more of the total amount of leave (Bennhold, 2010). There is quite a striking contrast between working conditions and working fathers in Japan and Sweden, as the average Swedish work week consists of 37.5 hours. Additionally, Swedish fathers on average arrive home from work by 5:00 P.M., spend three hours and twenty-one minutes doing domestic work each day, and have one hour and seven minutes to spend with their children each day (Morrone & Matsuyama, 2010). Swedish culture and parental leave policies reflect the extremely low masculinity score of the country. In the United States, gender inequality is still an issue that women in the workplace struggle with. The median wage gap for men and women is 20.8 percent (ITUC, 2009). Women are fifty percent more likely to work in the public sector than men are, and women make up fiftynine percent of the low-wage workforce. The economic recession has left women in difficult positions, and one out of five women are now working part-time jobs because they cannot find full-time employment. Despite this fact, women have lower unemployment rates than men do and are less likely to be unemployed for long periods of time (ILO, 2011). Because the FMLA only offers unpaid parental leave, mothers are more likely to take the leave than fathers are. Men who earn more income feel the need to stay in the workplace after the child is born in order to continue earning money to support the family. Women consequently fall behind in their careers and struggle to maintain the same momentum in the business world that men do. The longer time that women are out of the workforce, the more detrimental it is to their roles in business. The decline of job skills and experience leads to lower wages upon return (Hofferth & Curtin, 2006). The lack of paid leave in the United States clearly correlates with the gender inequality in the workplace.

10 The increase of nonstandard working schedules in America has caused parents to experience more work-family conflict. Work-family conflict has been named one of the ten greatest workplace stressors by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (Winslow, 2005). As women struggle with balancing their work and family lives more and more, men statistically have not been much help at home. Arlie Russel Hochschild, a prominent sociologist, explains that just as there is a wage gap between men and women in the workplace, there is a leisure gap between them at home (Hochschild, 2003). The fact that the average man spends more time in the office than the average women and also makes more money annually could be a major contribution to this inequality in the home. Other research has shown, however, that men have begun to help more with the responsibilities of childcare. One suggested reason for this is that men are motivated to spend more time with their children than their fathers spent with them when they were young (Winslow, 2005). Women tend to generally be dissatisfied with the inequality of household responsibilities, and helping with childcare is a way in which men can significantly decrease this inequality. Many fathers are not able to fulfill this role because of the lack of paid parental leave. Work-life balance is no longer an issue that women struggle with alone, and U.S. policies have not adapted to accommodate the working father. In 1977, 34 percent of men reported that they experienced a degree of work-family conflict; in 2008, this number rose to 49 percent. Not surprisingly, men in dual-earner households experience more conflict, since their wives are not available to take care of household responsibilities while they are at work. In the National Study of the Changing Workforce conducted by the Families and Work Institute, researchers conclude that the increase in conflict is a result of the new male mystique. They suggest that men are stuck between the traditional role of breadwinner and the modern role of devoted father and husband.

11 While the study found that men do spend more time with their children3 hours per workday up in 2008 up from 1.8 hours in 1977their job demands have significantly become more burdensome (Aumann, Galinsky, & Matos, 2011). This leaves men with the struggle of budgeting enough time to complete all of their work and to make sure that they are involved in their childrens lives. American fathers reportedly would like to work less and spend more time with their families but instead choose to stay at work because they feel the responsibility to earn money. Many men claimed to need to earn money by working long hours even if their spouses earned a higher salary than they did (Aumann, Galinsky, & Matos, 2001). This could be an influence of traditional gender roles reflecting mens desire to be the breadwinner. Furthermore, this finding supports the masculinity score that Hofstede assigns to the United States of sixty-two. Americans are known for their live to work mentality, and a high emphasis is placed on material rewards as a way to gain social status (Hofstede, 2012). Although the twelve weeks of parental leave is available to fathers, they choose to spend time at work to get ahead in their careers and earn as much money as possible. Many American fathers also struggle with the difficulty of approaching their employers to ask for the twelve week unpaid leave given to them by the FMLA. Although this leave is guaranteed to eligible employees, some managers give their male employees a difficult time about leaving work, as they see this as an inconvenience for the organization. Some men report that their workplace is very mommy-friendly, offering flexible work schedules for women taking maternity leave and accommodating any needs that mothers may have. On the other hand, these men experience resistance from the workplace when attempting to claim the same flexible benefits (Goodman, 2008). Surprisingly, Swedish men struggle with this issue as well, and men are heavily

12 influenced by what their fellow male coworkers decide to do about taking leave. In Swedish workplaces where there is a precedent of men taking parental leave, other men are much more likely to ask for leave than in workplaces where it is less common (Bygren & Duvander, 2006). It seems that violating traditional gender norms is a universal issue that fathers encounter when taking parental leave. Parental leave policies can be extremely influential in the workplace as well as in the home. While the unpaid policies of the United States can be compared with the emphasis on making as much money as possible, the inflexible policies of Japan reflect the highly masculine values of Japanese society and the great inequality wages and work opportunities for men and women. The extensive policies in Sweden indicate the feminine society with a focus on work-life balance and compromise and cause a lesser degree of gender inequality in the workplace as well as in the home. Overall, parental leave is both influenced by and has a significant influence on the development of international gender roles and the inequality that men and women experience at work.

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