economist.com (21.03.2024) Most European countries have been making parental leave more generous since the 1980s. The eu sets a statutory minimum of 14 weeks leave for mothers and, since 2022, two weeks for fathers. But many member states offer leave that is much longer: the average across the eu is 21 weeks for women and three weeks for men, but lengths vary wildly. Paternity leave has been changing the most. Nordic countries were the first to introduce it by statute. Sweden had in 1974 introduced shared paid leave that could be taken by either parent; it now amounts to 69 weeks. In the 1990s Norway became the first country to reserve four weeks of the paid parental leave for fathers, and Sweden followed two years later. Every eu country has done the same since then.