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Good practice

Iceland's 12-Month Gender-Equal Parental Leave Reform (2021)

Iceland · Reykjavik · See the Iceland profile

Iceland's 2021 reform expanded paid parental leave to 12 months with 6 months per parent non-transferable, raising fathers' average leave use to 131 days and achieving 80–90% father uptake — the highest global benchmark for gender-equal care sharing.

6 of 12 months
Non-transferable leave per parent
131 days
Fathers' average leave use
80–90%
Father uptake
Iceland's 12-Month Gender-Equal Parental Leave Reform (2021)

Details

Maturity
Established
Promoter
Directorate of Labour (Vinnumálastofnun)
Period
2021-present
Keywords
parental leave, work-life balance, care economy, fathers quota, gender equality

Context

Iceland's 2021 reform expanded paid parental leave to 12 months, with six months non-transferable for each parent.

Results

Fathers' average leave use rose to 131 days with 80–90% uptake — the highest global benchmark for gender-equal care sharing.

Implementation

Implementation detail (cost, timeline, staffing, conditions for success) is not yet available for this practice.

Data sources

Where this practice's information was retrieved from, and when.

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