--- title: Parental Leave: What I Learned On My (Swedish) Paternity Leave description: I didn't just take care of my family—I came back with ideas for how to make my business better canonical: https://time.com/3987742/paternity-leave-lessons/ author: Hampus Jakobsson article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-07T13:52:44.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T08:05:02.250Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Parental Leave: What I Learned On My (Swedish) Paternity Leave og:description: I didn't just take care of my family—I came back with ideas for how to make my business better og:url: https://time.com/3987742/paternity-leave-lessons/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99b5fc32a5d9390b/69885e3f0a4a221ee19c5800/hampus-jakobsson-brisk-ceo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2975 og:image:height: 1673 og:image:alt: Hampus Jakobsson- Brisk CEO og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Parental Leave: What I Learned On My (Swedish) Paternity Leave twitter:description: I didn't just take care of my family—I came back with ideas for how to make my business better twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt99b5fc32a5d9390b/69885e3f0a4a221ee19c5800/hampus-jakobsson-brisk-ceo.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What I Learned on My (Swedish) Paternity Leave > Sponsored content. 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It explains how TIME's journalism is made, from the first pitch through the editorial decisions behind a finished story or cover. #### How can I read about how TIME chooses its covers? Inside TIME is the newsletter where TIME's Editor-in-Chief explains cover selection and the editorial reasoning behind major stories. It is free at time.com/newsletters. #### Who is the editor of TIME? Sam Jacobs is TIME's Editor-in-Chief. He writes Inside TIME, a twice-weekly newsletter about the newsroom's reporting and editorial decisions. #### Is Inside TIME free? Yes. Inside TIME is a free newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and available at time.com/subscribe-agent. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-inside-2026q3/newsletters?i=a8a852c5-d5b7-413f-a2d6-9fa9bc0ca407&cr=time-nl-inside-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Netflix Is Offering A Year's Worth of Paid Maternity Leave [Watch (HLS stream): Netflix Is Offering A Year's Worth of Paid Maternity Leave](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/JNDTCFU7.m3u8) (1:15)  _Published 2015-08-05. The video streaming company, which has yet to make a global profit, is offering its more than 2,100 employees a year's worth of maternity leave._ by [Hampus Jakobsson](https://time.com/author/hampus-jakobsson/) ## Hampus Jakobsson Aug 7, 2015 1:52 PM UTC  Alfred Beckman by [Hampus Jakobsson](https://time.com/author/hampus-jakobsson/) ## Hampus Jakobsson Aug 7, 2015 1:52 PM UTC There’s never a good time to go on parental leave, especially if you’re one of the founders of the company. But taking nine months off to spend time with my newborn son was one of the best things I did—for our relationship, and for my business. Going on paternity leave was never a question. In Sweden men used about [24%](http://mic.com/articles/119794/sweden-has-an-amazing-new-parental-leave-policy-and-the-u-s-should-take-note) of the total amount of [parental leave](http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/may/28/swedish-fathers-paid-paternity-parental-leave) available in 2012, and both companies that I co-founded have encouraged paternal leave. The system is built so that typically one parent goes on leave when the child is born, then their spouse does, and then when the child is about 18-months-old, they go to kindergarten. My son Arvid was born in May 2008, and I began my leave that January. Before I went on leave, I was working 60 to 80 hours a week. I had trouble letting go of control, and I was manic about projects. But when I left to be with my son, I felt that there was nothing that could have pulled me away from him. If someone had come and said there was a crisis at the company, I would have had a hard time. Paternity leave gave me the opportunity to meet people I would never have met otherwise. I would talk with other parents at the playground, and we would ask each other questions like, “What do you do at 3 a.m. to cope with night screams?” It felt like the men tended to focus on solutions and tools: They always had tips to share. The women had grit: They knew you just had to cope with it. It also let me learn new things. I taught myself how to bake sourdough bread, and I challenged myself to invite people over and cook lunches a few days a week. My son, now 7, will eat anything, and I feel that we have a stronger connection now because I was able to spend so much time with him at a young age. I look back at my time on parental leave as not only as building an amazing relationship with my son, but also actually learning things that have helped me in my business. Focusing on a fragile being who makes you laugh and cry and whom you love intrinsically makes you think, “So what am I really doing at work?” People often come back and want to do something different, something with meaning, something that is part of something bigger. I learned that I should have empowered employees more, not just told them what I thought. When I came back to work, I arrived with fresh eyes. I sat down with people and worked with them to help improve their jobs and make everyone more efficient. One of the things companies should realize is that parental leave benefits both the employee and employer. Parents on leave will grown and learn and come back with the potential to make the business better. It’s the employee’s responsibility to make sure they hand over all key responsibilities so that they aren’t needed during their leave. And it’s the employer’s responsibility to make sure that employees can take the time and still feel included in the company. Companies should also let go of ingrained ideas that leave is predominately for mothers. As a society, we’re talking a lot about feminism now, especially in tech. I think it’s great that we’re working to make the workplace a gender-equal place. But it can’t just be a discussion of salary—we must also address roles and responsibilities. Netflix’s recent move to give maternity and paternity leave for up to a year after a child is born or adopted is a step in this direction. I’m shocked by that there aren’t better parental leave policies in the U.S. and around the world. More companies need to accept that maternity and paternity leave policies are important part of building a strong business. ## Transcript The US might be one of the stingiest developed countries in the world when it comes to maternity and paternity leave, but it seems entertainment giant Netflix has gone rove. What are you looking at? The video streaming company which has yet to make a global profit, is offering its more than twenty- one hundred employees a years worth of maternity and paternity leave. According to Netflix, parents can return part- time, full- time or come and go throughout the year and the company will quote Keep paying them normally. Netflix is even beating out some of the US' most profitable tech companies who have recently changed their policies to attract talent. Apple offers 14 weeks of maternity leave while Facebook offers 16 weeks. Such a generous policy is practically unheard of in the US. A country that doesn't even have a federal mandate for paid time off for new mothers. The Family Medical Leave Act of 1993 only requires American companies offer 12 weeks of unpaid leave. Where as in some of the world's other big economies like the United Kingdom, Canada, and China pay Paid maternity leave can range between 14 and 40 weeks. 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