Good practice

Reforma Islandesa das Licenças Parentais de Igualdade de Género (2021)

Iceland · Reykjavik · See the Iceland profile

A reforma de 2021 alargou a licença parental remunerada para 12 meses com 6 meses por progenitor não transferíveis, elevando a utilização média dos pais para 131 dias e alcançando uma taxa de adesão paterna de 80–90% — o benchmark global mais elevado em partilha igualitária dos cuidados.

6 of 12 months

Licença não transferível por progenitor

131 days

Uso médio da licença pelos pais

80–90%

Adesão dos pais

Reforma Islandesa das Licenças Parentais de Igualdade de Género (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

A reforma da Islândia de 2021 alargou a licença parental paga para 12 meses, sendo seis meses não transferíveis para cada progenitor.

Results

O uso médio da licença pelos pais subiu para 131 dias, com uma adesão de 80–90% — a mais alta referência mundial de partilha de cuidados com igualdade de género.

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.

C-NAPSE web research — accessed 2026-06-21
Directorate of Labour (Vinnumálastofnun) — accessed 2026-06-21
Icelandic government — Maternity and paternity leave — accessed 2026-06-21
Nordic Council of Ministers — Parental leave in Iceland (2025) — accessed 2026-06-21
PMC — The 2021 Baby Boom in Iceland: parental leave reform effects — accessed 2026-06-21

Attachments

Source image

Quality score: 96/100

How is this calculated?

Evidence: Observational / pre–post

Top 4% in this catalogue (719 scored practices)

Scores cluster high, so position within the catalogue is often more telling than the number alone.

Evaluation

Evaluated by C-NAPSE

Score profile — the dimensions behind the score — how it's computed

Transferability / replicability2/3

The Iceland fathers'-quota model has directly informed reforms in Germany (2007 Elterngeld), Portugal (2009 daddy quota), and EU-level parental leave policy discussions; partially replicated in 10+ countries.

Impact on gender equality1/1

Father uptake of 80–90% and 131 days average leave use in 2021 represent the highest rates globally; gap between mothers' and fathers' labour market participation documented as narrowed since reform.

Effectiveness1/1

The 2021 reform demonstrably met its stated objective: fathers' average leave use rose to 131 days and 80–90% of eligible fathers used their entitlement, confirming the non-transferable quota mechanism works.

Efficiency1/1

Self-funded through a mandatory employer levy (Fæðingarorlofssjóður) with 80% wage replacement; cost-proportionate given documented reduction in gender gaps in labour market participation.

Evaluated outcomes1/1

PMC peer-reviewed article in European Journal of Population (2024), Nordic Council of Ministers comparative study (2025), IZA discussion paper, and Oxford Academic book chapter independently evaluate the reform.

Sustainability1/1

Permanent legislation continuously strengthened since 2000; self-financing through employer levy; progressively expanded from 6 to 9 to 10 to 12 months; bipartisan political consensus.

Achievement / evidence1/1

Law in force from 1 January 2021; fathers' average leave use 131 days in 2021 documented in Directorate of Labour annual statistics; repeated global benchmark status in OECD comparative data.

Gender-mainstreaming embedding1/1

Structural embedding: equal independent non-transferable leave quotas eliminate the traditional mother-centred leave model and legally embed fathers' care responsibility in employment and social security law.

Curator validation1/1

Icelandic government official site (work.iceland.is), Nordic Council of Ministers (official publication), PMC/NCBI peer-reviewed article, IZA research network — all highly authoritative and verifiable.

Cite this

Evidoria. Reforma Islandesa das Licenças Parentais de Igualdade de Género (2021). Persistent ID: ba47699e-e7c6-48a7-b76e-f8b05881319e.

Export as decision brief (PDF)

Similar practices you may find useful

★ 100

Sweden's Reserved 'Daddy Months' in Parental Insurance (Pappamånaden 1995–2016)

Sweden

Sweden's daddy months — 1 non-transferable month for fathers in 1995, 2 in 2002, 3 in 2016 — cut the …

★ 100

Norway's Fedrekvote (Father's Quota) — Reserved Parental Leave for Fathers

Norway

Norway's 1993 father's quota (fedrekvote) reserves non-transferable paid parental leave for fathers, driving uptake from 2.4% (1992) to 90%. Expanded …

★ 96

Japan's 2022 Child Care Leave Law Reform — Postnatal Paternity Leave (産後パパ育休)

Japan

Japan's 2022 Child Care Leave Law amendment created a postnatal paternity leave of up to 28 days within the first …

★ 96

Spain's Equal Non-Transferable Paternity Leave Reform (2017–2021)

Spain

Spain extended fully paid paternity leave from 2 to 16 weeks — equal and non-transferable — in phases from 2017 …