Family Policy and Shared Parenting in Nordic Countries
| Author | Minna Rantalaiho,Mia Hakovirta |
| Date | 01 June 2011 |
| Published date | 01 June 2011 |
| DOI | 10.1177/138826271101300203 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
European Jour nal of Social Secu rity, Volume 13 (2011), No. 2 247
FAMILY POLICY AND SHARED
PARENTING IN NORDIC COUNTRIES
M H* and M R**
Abstract
Increasing diversity in patter ns of responsibility for the raising of children in families
has presented serious challenges for welfare states. More complex family ties raise
questions about the types of responsibility and obligation that should follow from
di erent forms of private relationship, and the role the welfare state should play in
governing family life. In this article, we compare how family policies in Finland,
Norway and Sweden de ne parental responsibilities for supporting a child when its
parents do not live together. We are particularly interested in whether the principle
of Nordic family poli cy, shared parenting, ope rates when parents do no t live together
but raise their child together. Do parents have an opportunity, for example , to share
family policy bene ts, and if they have, what are the conditions under which this
can be realised? Comparative examination shows variation between the logistics of
Nordic family policies. Norwegian and Swedish family policy systems are exible,
and family policy there enables parents to share bene ts in a way that supports
shared residential arrangements . In Finland, however, the situation of parents living
apart but sharing the daily care of their child has been given insu cient attention
and family policy has still not been developed .
Keywords: child bene t; child maintenance; lone parenthood; Nordic family policy;
parental leave; shared parenting
* Dr. Mia Hakovir ta is a Post-Doctora l Researcher in t he Department of S ocial Resea rch at the
University of Turku; address: FI-20014 University of Turku, Finland; phone: +358–2–3336213;
e-mail: miahak@utu. .
** Minna Rantalaiho is a Doctoral Student in the Department of Social Research at the University of
Turku; address: FI-20014 University of Turku, Finland; phone: +358–2–3335814; e-mail: minran@
utu. .
Mia Hakovi rta and Minna Ra ntalaiho
248 Intersentia
1. INTRODUC TION
Over the last 40 years , divorce rates in parts of Europe have tripled ( erborn 200 4:
190). Whilst there are variations between countries, and short-term variations in
national trends, the overall trend is clearly upwards, pa rticularly when non-marital
separations are included (EUROSTAT 2011). Increasing diversity in the st ructure
of families responsible for raising children is a serious challenge for welfare states.
Emerging e orts to maintain parental bonds a er divorce and separation produce
many arguments, and even though there has been a pronounced di erentiation
between parenthood and mar riage, we still ex perience a lag between legislation and
soc ia l rea li ty. I n an inc rea sing num ber o f ca ses of d ivor ce a nd se pa rat ion, bot h pa rent s
seek to exercise their rights and responsibilities in the new family situation. ese
arrangements, where parents share t he custody of the child and both play active par ts
in the ch ild’s everyday li fe regardless of whe ther or not they live w ith the child , create
a pressure for change in the organi sation of family policy.
In this art icle we explore how the Nordic countries have reacted to this pressure by
studying di eren t publ ic fa mi ly pol icy meas ures tha t supp ort pare ntal resp onsi bili tie s
when parents live apart a er divorce or separation or because they have never lived
together as a couple.
How welfare states react to changes in f amily life and models of parenting dep ends
on a number of di erent factors. C omparative family policy studies have shown how
di erent welfare policy regimes emphasise di erent models for sharing rights and
responsibilities between t he state and the family on one hand and bet ween the parents
on the other (Andress and Hummelshei m 2009). At least two developments in Nordic
family policy support our approach and extend its signi cance beyond the Nordic
context. First, for some time a strong emphasis has been placed on the sharing of
parental responsibilities b etween mother and father as the ideal model of parent hood
in the Nordic countries (El lingsæter and Leira 2006). All Nordic countrie s have
adopted joint legal custody as the ma in rule a er separation and have adopted the
guiding principle that children have a right to have contact with and mai ntain a
relationship with both parents (Eydal and Kröger 2010). e primacy g iven to the
shared parenting model permeates Nordic family policy-making, and promotion of
the model by family pol icy measures is presented as a win-win strategy from which
women, men and children can be ne t. Second ly, in the case of divorce or separ ation,
parents in the Nordic countries i ncreasingly seem to choose shared residence as the
preferred living arra ngement. In practice, such a n arrangement means that children
in post-divorce and post-separation situations increasingly have two homes that they
alternate between (see e.g. Haugen 2010). In Sweden, almost every third chi ld with
divorced or separated parents spends equa l time with each parent and moves between
two homes (SCB 2009).
Research on family pol icy where the focus is outside the traditional nuclea r family
context has main ly investig ated single motherhood. By focusin g on shared pa renting,
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