'Swedish Dads' Is An Intimate Peek Into Modern, Gender-Equal Parenting

What does gender equality look like within a family?  Earlier this year, Johan Bävman, a Swedish photographer and father, turned his camera inwards, offering intimate portraits of people’s lives within their own homes—more specifically, fathers and their toddlers. His aim was a simple one—to showcase the incredible advantage of Sweden’s generous paternity leave policies, while still hoping to encourage fathers both in his country and outside of it to ponder the value of ‘taking time to stay home with their infants for long periods of time’. Through his series, Swedish Dads, Bävman accomplishes all this and more.
Considering his unique photo narrative will be exhibited right here in India, courtesy Delhi Photo Festival, we thought it would be interesting to explore the series through the context of our own lens. In India, paternity leave is a fantasy. First-time fathers with government jobs are compensated to share diaper-changing duties for up to 15 days.  Beyond that, mothers are expected to parent, even if maternity leave only lasts 84 days.  Sweden, by comparison, actively incentivizes gender-equal parenting. For every child a couple has, they jointly receive 480 days of paid parental leave, 60 of which must be used by the dad, or lost. Throw in a 1,500 Euro bonus for parents who split their leave equally and gender-equal parenting seems like a no-brainer.
It was for Bävman and his wife. But in an interview with Cosmopolitan, he said that when he started doing his homework, he ‘couldn’t find literature or anything that related to [him] as a father’. Despite the incentives for gender-equal parenting, only 25 percent of Swedish fathers take the 60 days allotted to them and only 12 percent split the 480 days equally with their partners.
To encourage more men to stay home with their newborns, Bävman began constructing a visual guide for new fathers. When finished, the series will capture 60 fathers on paternity leave: one for each day of leave specifically meant for Swedish dads.
The portraits celebrate progressive fathers while also reminding us that parenting is an exercise in trial and error.  As viewers, we enter moments of improvised problem solving with the fathers. “I didn’t want to have the Super Dad. I wanted to have the dads who show us the difficulties of having a child,” Bävman told Cosmopolitan.
While Bavman’s work is clearly important even in Sweden, it will be particularly interesting to note what kind of impact it will have on the psyche of men and women in a country like our own, one where gender roles are so clearly defined. The idea of equal leave seems entirely improbable in our near future, even if its benefits have been captured for all to see.
As the photographer rightly sums the sentiment up: “The prime thing is getting the connection to your children. You know more of your child when the child is growing up, and as they get older they can come to you if they are seeking advice.” More importantly still, he identifies the issue too few talk about when it comes to unequal parenting roles, too: “But it’s not just about building relationships with your children. “Having a child is hard—you don’t get enough sleep, you can get exhausted and angry and frustrated. Being able to be home helps you understand your partner and have a better relationship.” 

Scroll on to see a few images from his series 

I. “The financial loss with me taking parental leave is worth every krona. I have gained confidence as a dad to my kids, understanding for my partner, and stronger ties to my children that, as I see it, are important for their growing up.”

– Johan Ekengård, 38

II. “My wife and I try to be as equal as possible in our everyday life. Our son Holger was diaper- free at the age of 4 months, something we both worked really hard on during the first months, and which I am very proud of today. My day consists of cooking and playing with my son.”

- Urban North, 32

III. “There was never any discussion about who should stay at home with Elling. It was obvious to my partner and I that we would split parental leave equally. Had I not had the opportunity to be at home with our son for almost a year, I would probably not have known who he is as a person and what his needs are. Even though it is a full-time job, I have a hard time understanding why you would not want to be at home with your kid.”

– Loui Kuhlau, 28

IV. “When you decide to bring two new individuals into this world you also have to take on the responsibility to raise them throughout their lives. I had to argue with my partner to get my months with the children but I think it is important for them to have a present father early on in their lives.”

– Samad Kohigoltapeh, 32

V. “The state needs to become better at providing information regarding the advantages that parental leave gives both parents. It is a true gift to be allowed to create such strong emotional ties to your child. You almost have to experience parental leave to understand what you lose before you decide to work instead.”

– Ola Larsson, 41

VI. “In my job at Ikea they encourage me to take time off to be with Tim, which feels good. I am considering reducing my working week in order to spend more time with him during his first years. It is a shame that more dads do not see the advantages of the egalitarian system promoted by the Swedish state.”

– Tjeerd van Waijenburg, 34

VII. “Our children have as much trust in me as in my partner. It is important to me that I am also able to comfort my children. Since my partner fell ill due to complications at childbirth, I had to take on the lion’s share of upbringing during the period just after birth. As a result I got a direct link with Sam through bottle-feeding.”

– Andreas Bergström, 39

VIII. “It was a wake-up call to read about a survey by the youth magazine Kamratposten expressing that most children turn to their mum when they are upset, seeking comfort or just need someone to talk to. Second to the mother came a relative, then a sibling, then someone at school, and only a long way down came dad. I want my kids to feel just as safe with me as with their mum, and that bond is something I’ll build during my parental leave. I don’t just want to be the fun parent.”

– Jonas Feldt, 31

IX. “I feel guilty about not having been at home with Matilda as much as I am now with Valdemar. I worry that my relationship with her will be weaker in the future since I worked during the start of her life and I think that as a parent, it is important to participate in the beginning.”

– Martin Gagner, 35

X. “I am eternally grateful for having been able to be on leave for such a long time. Parental leave changed the way I look at life: It created a change in pace and I had time to reflect on things. During the second parental leave I had the opportunity to change my career and at the same time I got to see my kids learn how to walk, talk, and eat.”

– Juan Cardenal, 34