This is how a good social system looks like.
In Sweden, men push baby strollers during the day, because they are equally entitled to paternity leave. This exists in other countries, but men are usually reluctant to take paternity leave in fear that they will loose their job when they leave their jobs for such a long time. Sad, that there are in fact companies that offer paternity leave but fire employees who actually take it.
The fact that men are taking care of children during the day means that men and women can enjoy both raising a child and having a career. This does not happen if the government and companies fully support the system, but Sweden is already aware that promoting such a social system leads to a countermeasure to the falling birthrate. Germany, Switzerland and Japan are still stuck in traditional values in which majority of women stay home and raise children. Or if both parents work full-time, then kids are usually sent to day-care center. Many of our friends in Switzerland work part-time and raise children equally with their partners, and I think this is also ideal both for the couple and children. I’m always interested in how couples in different countries places its values in life, and this trip to Sweden was a great opportunity to observe a totally different prespective to life.
