Many countries around the world recognize that looking after children is not just the responsibility of mothers, and to promote gender equality, many countries offer official paid paternity leave to support new fathers, with the Nordic countries leading the pack. fathers a meaningful opportunity to participate in early childcare. Paternity leave allows fathers to support their wives, share domestic and caring responsibilities and remain emotionally present during a critical phase.
Sweden provides 480 days of paid parental leave upon the birth or adoption of a child, which is shared by the parents. Each parent is entitled to 240 of these days, some of which may be transferred to the other parent.
In Denmark, the mother is entitled to four weeks of leave before giving birth, while each parent can take up to 24 weeks (168 days) of paid leave after the birth. Both parents are offered a total of 52 weeks of parental leave and can transfer some weeks of leave to the other parent.
Fathers in Iceland are offered some of the highest paternity leave in the world, with at least 180 days off work to take care of a young child, according to the World Population Review 2026 data. Spanish fathers receive 112 days of paternity leave, while the Netherlands provides 42 days.
According to the report, Japan offers up to four weeks of leave up to eight weeks after birth, which is 28 days of paternity leave. In addition, it offers up to a year of additional parental leave, while benefits generally cover about 67% of salary, making it one of the most generous paternity leaves in the world. “Compensation is a total of 67% of the usual salary for 180 days and 50% for the rest paid by the government,” the report said.
In order to promote gender equality and shared child-rearing, another key country that provides substantial leave, often with appropriate pay, is Finland, which offers a parental leave allowance of 160 working days. Each parent has the option to surrender and surrender a maximum of 63 working days of their quota of total leave to the parent who is in primary care.
In Norway, parents are entitled to a total of 12 months of leave, including the period before and after the birth of the child. “These 12 months include a mother’s right to leave for up to 12 weeks during pregnancy and six weeks of reserved maternity leave after childbirth,” the official website says. It also states that 16 or 18 weeks of leave can be shared.
Each parent can take one year of leave for each birth, in addition to the first 12 months. Fathers are offered a dedicated, non-transferable quota of 15 weeks at 100% pay or 19 weeks at 80% pay in addition to two weeks’ leave after the birth, called father’s days.
Paternity leave in India
In India, central and state government employees are entitled to 15 days of paid paternity leave, which can be taken up to 15 days before or up to six months after the birth or adoption of a child. However, there is no uniform statutory mandate for private sector employees, so policies depend on company policies. While some companies like Zomato, TCS and Infosys offer formal paternity leave, many companies do not offer any formal parental leave to new fathers.
