Quartz (06.01.2016) Sweden really wants dads to take paternity leave. Sweden became the first country in the world to replace maternity leave with parental leave in 1974, with time off that either parent could take. While the onus was no longer on women to take time off work for childcare, the new law didn’t dramatically change gender roles with childcare. Mothers were still taking the vast majority of leave and the few men who did take it were nicknamed “velvet dads.”