Around 6.6 months each!

Finland's government has announced plans to increase the length of paternity leave to give new fathers the same amount of paid time off work as new mothers. The plans were announced on Wednesday by Finland's Minister of Health and Social Affairs Aino-Kaisa Pekonen, who said the move was aimed at improving gender equality while also boosting the declining birthrate in the country. Pregnant women will also be entitled to a month of pregnancy leave before the expected date of birth. Under the plans, both parents will receive 164 days of allowance (approximately 6.6 months) and parents can transfer 69 days of their quota to the other parent. A single parent would have access to the daily allowance quotas for both parents. The increase in paternity leave and other reforms will increase costs by around €100 million and will come into force by Autumn 2021 at the earliest. Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin has previously said her country still has work to do to achieve gender equality and said she wanted fathers spending more time with their children while they are young. Finland's nordic neighbour, Sweden, has Europe's most generous system of parental leave with 240 days each after a baby's birth.