Generous parental leave 'protects your mental health'
If you’re a parent in Sweden you may already have suspected it and now researchers at Stockholm University have confirmed it: generous parental leave is good for your mental health.
https://www.thelocal.se/20230315/generous-parental-leave-protects-mental-health-stockholm-university-tlccu/
The new study, believed to be the most comprehensive undertaken on the topic, reviewed the findings of 45 studies conducted in countries including Sweden, France, Germany, Italy, the US and Japan. The beneficial effects for mental health were especially clear among mothers, for whom the benefit continues into later life.
“More generous parental leave policies, with longer length of leave or paid leave, were associated with improved mental health among mothers,” says Amy Heshmati, lead author of the study by the Department of Public Health Sciences at Stockholm University and the Karolinska Institute.
The benefits included reduced risk of depressive symptoms, psychological distress and burnout. Fewer studies have looked at fathers and the findings for men were “less conclusive”. But there’s still evidence that schemes offering wage replacement “comparable to a decent salary, and other incentives to use more leave such as uptake quotas” are good for dads’ mental wellbeing.
Discover more about the latest research at Stockholm University
Parenting pressures
New mother Jennifer Jun, an American living in Stockholm with her Swedish partner Robert, says parenthood “was something I never ever considered in the US or even in other European countries”. That’s quite a statement given that she previously lived in the Netherlands, Spain, France, Denmark, and Switzerland. Like many international people in Sweden, Jennifer could not have been more impressed with the country’s parental leave policies or the accommodating environment for children.
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= new reply since forum marked as read
and mostly stay at home tending to their kids, while the husband works?
Not saying I know either way, and frankly doubt it's better on average, but ... it would be a useful point of comparison, something of an obvious question someone might ask in response to a study like this.
From my side, I have no kids, never wanted kids, and therefore obviously never wanted a wife staying home at home with the kids, nor do I think in any way women should not pursue careers. I support generous Maternal and Paternal leave ... I mean, if you MUST have children 
Just curious about the stats, how they would compare 
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