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Celebrating Dad

Trevlig farsdag! Several countries including Sweden, Iceland, Estonia, Finland, Norway, and Indonesia celebrate Father’s Day in November. Like other Father’s Day holidays worldwide, this day recognizes the contribution that dads and father figures make to the lives of their children.

As far back as the Middle Ages, Catholics have observed a day to celebrate male parenting, March 19th, the feast day of Saint Joseph, who is the husband of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Within the Catholic community, Saint Joseph is considered “Nourisher of the Lord,” and in the southern European tradition, he is “the putative father of Jesus.”

In Scandinavian countries, lucky dads are often served breakfast in bed and they’re commemorated with a special cake. They also receive small gifts, such as neckties or homemade crafts.

Exemplary parental policies in Scandinavian countries include dad. A recent Business Insider story states that Icelandic parents may split their nine months of post-childbirth leave down the middle. New moms are entitled to three months, new dads get three months, and then it’s up to the couple to decide how they’ll split the remaining three months.

In Sweden, fathers get 90 paid paternity days after the birth of their children. To promote paternal bonding, Estonia gives new fathers two weeks of paid time off after the birth of their children.

These generous policies pay off. An article in ScienceNordic.com points to Kristin Berg Nordahl’s doctoral thesis at the University of Bergen. It focuses on fathers’ interaction with their children and revealed that children with fathers who spent a lot of time at home during the child’s first year showed less signs of disruptive behavior at the age of two.

In the U.S., only the Roman Catholic community celebrated Father’s Day was celebrated until 1972, when President Richard Nixon signed a law making Father’s Day a permanent national holiday. Children usually celebrate their dads by giving them small gifts and spending time with them at family barbecues, the beach, or doing whatever it is that their fathers enjoys doing.

With one of the lowest levels of leave in the industrialized world, America’s maternity policy gives new moms a right to a temporary, unpaid period of absence from employment during the months immediately before and after childbirth. The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 (FMLA) mandates employers allow up to 12 weeks of unpaid leave annually for mothers of newborn or newly adopted children.

According to the National Fatherhood Initiative, there’s a father absence crisis in America. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 24 million children, one out of every three, live without their biological father in the home. That absence translates to a greater risk of poverty, more behavioral problems, and a higher likelihood of incarceration.

Sometimes, though, not having a father trumps having a bad dad. For reading on some poor examples of fathers, look to Michael Henchard in The Mayor of Casterbridge, Titus in Titus Andronicus and King Lear.

By Regina Molaro