Achieving Egalitarian Fatherhood - How can family policies contribute to the achievement of egalitarian fatherhood? A comparative study of Sweden and Germany

Sparing, Lena (2026) Achieving Egalitarian Fatherhood - How can family policies contribute to the achievement of egalitarian fatherhood? A comparative study of Sweden and Germany. Bachelor thesis, Global Responsibility & Leadership (GRL).

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Abstract

This dissertation investigates how family policies can promote egalitarian fatherhood through a comparative literature review of Sweden and Germany. Drawing on relational egalitarianism and feminist care ethics, egalitarian fatherhood is defined as equal sharing of caregiving, domestic, and nurturing responsibilities, actively challenging gendered power structures that position mothers as default caregivers. The analysis identifies socio-cultural barriers (hegemonic masculinity, precarious manhood) and organisational barriers (economic disincentives, the ideal worker norm) that constrain fathers’ uptake of work-family policies. The comparison reveals that Germany’s parental leave system, featuring a 65% earnings replacement cap, two-month non-transferable quota, and limited childcare, has achieved only 34% father uptake, with most taking no more than two months. Sweden’s more generous system (80% replacement, three-month quota, extensive childcare) has normalised paternal leave, achieving over 90% uptake. However, even Sweden has not reached full equality, as mothers still take considerably longer leave and workplace norms persist. The dissertation concludes that well-designed family policies can foster egalitarian fatherhood, but only when they simultaneously address economic barriers, extend non-transferable quotas, expand childcare, reform contradictory tax systems, and actively transform workplace cultures. Policy alone is insufficient without sustained cultural change. Egalitarian fatherhood is thus a matter of political design, not merely cultural evolution.

Item Type:	Thesis (Bachelor)
Name supervisor:	McKeown, M.C.
Date Deposited:	10 Jun 2026 13:05
Last Modified:	10 Jun 2026 13:05
URI:	https://campus-fryslan.studenttheses.ub.rug.nl/id/eprint/833

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