Male Roles
May 16, 2007
At the informal two-day meeting that began on Tuesday in the spa town of Bad Pyrmont in Germany's state of Lower Saxony, EU family ministers signed a declaration aimed at firmly establishing gender equality in the European Union.
More flexible notions of gender roles would make it easier to combine work and families and it would also help EU countries to better tackle the challenges of demographic changes and boost economies, the statement said.
The role of fathers in helping to raise their children and the challenge this poses to the economy was also one of the central issues of the conference.
"Young men who opt for an active role as father are often looked viewed as wimps by society," said German Family Affairs Minister Ursula von der Leyen.
Von der Leyen urged employers to support men seeking to commit themselves to such a role. In Germany, the government has recently introduced incentives for parents taking time off work to look after their children.
Setting examples
"The more companies encourage their male employees to play an active role as fathers, the more of an example this will set for other men to find the courage and do the same," von der Leyen said.
"Europe needs a policy that puts men and women on an equal footing so it is easier for them to combine work, family life and taking care of dependents," she said.
EU Social Affairs Commissioner Vladimir Spidla called for a change of attitude among European men that would lead them to taking on more responsibilities in the family.
Firms should also do more to provide more child care facilities for their employees, the Czech EU commissioner said in an interview with dpa news agency.
In addition to the changing roles for fathers in child care, the conference also focused on equal opportunities for men and women at the workplace and in the family.
This week, German Chancellor Angela Merkel's grand coalition approved a plan championed by von der Leyen to triple the number of day care places for children under age three to 750,000 by 2013.
Money to stay home
Under a new financial scheme for parents in Germany which came into effect on January 1 in Germany, the federal government pays mothers or fathers two-thirds of their last net paycheck -- up to €1,800 ($2,360) -- for up to 12 months as long as they stay at home to take care of a new baby.
And if the other parent takes an additional two months off to care for the child, the government heaps two more months of pay on top.
The plan to create new daycare facilities and the financing scheme for parents are two major steps the German government has taken to adapt its family policies to the exigencies of the typical modern family.
Until now, working women in Germany have had a particularly hard time getting back into the labor market once they have a child due to the lack of full-day schools, kindergartens and day-care centers, which has partially contributed to the low birth rate in the country.
Other EU countries are also making headway in modernizing the role of men in the family.
In Iceland, for example, until 2000, men generally did not stay home to care for children, but a new law now makes it possible for them to do so. Around 90 percent of fathers in Iceland take advantage of the opportunity, and take an average of 97 days off from work to stay at home with a new child.