Research and international comparisons have shown that allocating parental leave to fathers is the most effective way to increase fathers taking family leave. Quotas for parental leave and allowance also motivate parents to make conscious decisions and plans about how childcare is divided between them. Furthermore, the distribution of parental leave and allowance to each parent is used to generally influence the current societal notions of parenthood and the division of duties between women and men. Likewise, the quotas are a signal to employers that parental leave is the right of fathers as well, and that fathers can take longer periods of family leave.
The reform would increase the total number of parental allowance days. Parental allowance days, 320 in total, would be evenly distributed between the parents (160 days/parent), and each parent would be allowed to transfer up to 63 allowance days to the other parent. Therefore, the number of days for the mother would not decrease compared to the current situation, as was promised in the government programme. The model would introduce a significant extension to the father’s quota. Increasing the quotas and number of allowance days further would lead to a substantial increase in expenditure, even though the model might not encourage fathers to take any more leave.  Compared to the current model, a more restrictive model with no transferrable days would hurt families where one parent would not use any parental allowance or only use it for a short time.