Iceland and U.S, comparison in Maternal/ Paternal Leave

        In my SDG's class (Sustainable Development Goals) we specifically focused on sdg's #3 and #5, Good Health and Well being and Gender Inequality. We mainly focused on the access to health care and inequalities people face based on their gender,sex, and sexuality. As we went more deep into research we were encouraged to find two countries, one of which had to be the U.S, and compare them to each other based on the certain topic that we chose regarding these SDG's. Personally I chose to compare Iceland and the U.S who while may seem similar also have their differences and decided to compare them based on their current situations regarding Maternal and Paternal Leave which is often recognized as a factor in the gender pay gap and is very important as it impacts the lives of those who were planning on having a family.

                                                   Source: United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Iceland and the U.S are both rich countries as they top in the “world’s 29 most richest countries in the world” (Business Insider) with Iceland coming in 14th place and the U.S in 12th .There is no doubt these two countries are incredibly rich. Yet, while they may both be rich countries, they still have their differences, especially when it comes to gender equality, where Iceland is considered (according to the World Economic Forum) a leading country in achieving it while the U.S does only mediocre. Getting in to more specifics on how they compare when it comes to important topics such as maternal/parental leave which is a very important factor when it comes to achieving gender equality we know they’ll have both similarities and differences.. I mean after all, aren't you curious about how the number one ranked country in gender equality , according to the world gender gap report, compares to the 49th ranked country, especially when it comes to relevant issues like maternity and paternity leave?

Iceland has often been recognized as the top country in the world for gender equality. It has been able to sustain this title by implementing certain laws and achieving certain standards and goals. One of these laws that have been put in place is one that makes parental leave mandatory for employers to provide to their employees. The law that was passed granted a total of nine months “ three months of non-transferable parental leave to both mothers and fathers; an additional three months of leave was granted to the couple to share as they chose” (Slate Magazine). Giving them both not only guaranteed paid parental leave but also equal parental leave so that neither has to miss more work than the other. This also brings into light another positive side which is that now employers won’t have to take into consideration the risk of hiring a woman where there is a possibility she will get pregnant and miss work because now a man is also equally likely to have a child and miss work too due to the law requiring the paternal leave. Making it so that now both are on equal levels of risk and employers can’t make the decision off that. This result can be shown in the percentages of employment where “ the labour force participation rate was 79% for women and 86% for men”(statistic Iceland) which makes only a 7% difference in employment which when compared to other countries is decently low. And if their current law on maternal/ paternal leave sounded great to you wait until you hear about the newest improvement they are looking to place upon it. These improvements include extending the time from 9 months to 12 giving “ each parent five months paid leave, and a remaining two months to share” (grapevine.is). Which not only gives more time for parents to spend time with their newborns but also since they will still be paid it takes off that economical worry off their shoulders. Considering these laws it is fair to say Iceland indeed is making progress towards full gender equality and is not sleeping on it.

The United States hasn’t been the best when it comes to gender equality and has often been mediocre when it comes to such problems. Despite not being the best they still have tried making progress when it comes to it. The awareness level has risen to state level with Washington Dc, Rhode Island, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, California, Connecticut, Washington, and Massachusetts all having some type of mandatory paid parental leave (Patriot Software). Otherwise, for the rest of the country, the closest thing they have is Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). FMLA guarantees a total of 12 work weeks of unpaid leave but even then not everyone qualifies. In order to qualify you must have been an employee of the company for at least 12 months, must have worked at least 1,250 hours during those 12 months, and the employer must have at least 50 employees who live within a 75 miles area (Find Law). Meaning not everyone is covered which can lead to conflicts such as one parent having to miss work or even quit their job to take care of the child which in most cases, is the mother. This most likely has an effect on the employment percentage of women and men which currently is 54.9% for women and 66.3% for men (statista). Making a 11.4% difference when it comes to percentage of employment which when compared to Iceland’s difference of 7% is quite high. If certain states already have laws it might be safe to say the whole country it can be achieved if we put more focus on it.

Source of data : Parental Leave Systems

Source of Chart: Me

Paternal leave: Iceland 13, U.S 0, Norway 10, Sweden 12.9, Germany 8.7, Finland 6

Maternal Leave: Iceland 13, U.S 0, Norway 78, Sweden 42.9, Germany 44, Finland 143.5

It is clear both countries have different progress done, but when it comes down to the basics here is how they compare. One of the first similarities they have is they both have the resources to make maternal/ paternal leave a benefit that all their citizens have access to. I mean after all we are talking about 2 of the most richest countries in the world. With a gdp per capita of “59,531.66 USD”  for the U.S and “70,056 USD” for Iceland (World Bank) there is no doubt both these countries have the economic stance to put more effort into bettering their laws on maternal/ paternal leave, which we see Iceland doing more. A second similarity both countries have is they both have is that women account for about half or more of labor force/ employment percentage of women, Iceland- 79% and U.S 54.9% meaning they are heavily impacted by the lack of laws based on maternal/ paternal leave if they are planning to have children since most often they end up being the ones missing work and pay if there is not any laws making it necessary for both parents to have paid leave, which is something the U.S struggles with the most. While they have their similarities they also have their differences, one of them being laws regarding parental leave. Currently the Iceland officially has laws specifically regarding parental leave and they are equal as father's get the same time as mothers and they both get two months to be split however they would like. Whereas the U.S as discussed in the previous paragraph has no official laws with the exception of states who have their own separate laws on it but even then the average time given by each state is about 4 to 8 weeks (Patriot Software)  while it still is something it doesn't get near as good as Iceland's laws on it. Then a second difference they have is Iceland seems to have more awareness of this issue and has been putting more effort into fixing it than the U.S. For example Iceland already has laws national level while the U.S lags behind with only laws at state level. Not only that but Iceland is even working on improving their current laws by adding more time and extending it from 9 months to 12 as discussed in the second paragraph. All while the U.S still isn't even putting much focus on putting laws Nationwide as states are being forced to implement their own laws.

Currently Iceland and the U.S are both at different levels of progress regarding paternal and maternal leave all the way from the U.S having no current laws to Iceland trying to improve the ones they already have. Although from looking at the data given it is clear to say Iceland is putting in the most effort and takes the take when in comes to having and implementing paternal/maternal leave laws.

Sources Used: 

Blakely-Grey, Rachel. “What Are the States With Paid Family Leave?: Thorough Guide.” Payroll Tips, Training, and News, 24 July 2019, https://www.patriotsoftware.com/payroll/training/blog/states-with-paid-family-leave/

Bulger, Adam. “The State of Paternity Leave in America.” Fatherly, 9 May 2019, https://www.fatherly.com/love-money/paternity-leave-laws-state-us/

Duffin, Erin. “Employment Rate of Men in the U.S. 1990-2018.” Statista, 29 Apr. 2019, https://www.statista.com/statistics/192393/employment-rate-of-men-in-the-us-since-1990/.

Duffin, Erin. “Employment Rate - Women in the U.S. 1990-2018.” Statista, 29 Apr. 2019, https://www.statista.com/statistics/192396/employment-rate-of-women-in-the-us-since-1990/.

“Educational Attainment of Women and Men Differ by Region.” Statistics Iceland, 8 Mar. 2018, https://www.statice.is/publications/news-archive/social-affairs/women-and-men-in-iceland-2018/

“FMLA Eligibility.” Findlaw, https://employment.findlaw.com/family-medical-leave/fmla-eligibility.html

Gunn, Dwyer. “Iceland's ‘Daddy Leave’ Shows A New Path Forward.” Slate Magazine, 3 Apr. 2013, https://slate.com/human-interest/2013/04/paternity-leave-in-iceland-helps-mom-succeed-at-work-and-dad-succeed-at-home.html

  

“SDGs .:. Sustainable Development Knowledge Platform.” United Nations, United Nations, https://sustainabledevelopment.un.org/sdgs

Sigurðardóttir, Guðrún H. “Parental Leave in Iceland Gives Dad a Strong Position.” Nordic Labour Journal, 17 Apr. 2019, http://www.nordiclabourjournal.org/i-fokus/in-focus-2019/future-of-work-iceland/article.2019-04-11.9299118347.

“WORLD DEVELOPMENT INDICATORS.” WDI - Home, http://datatopics.worldbank.org/world-development-indicators/.