Meet Kasper Thorsvang, Sam Shepherd, and Mads Petersen from Denmark. Year-long friends and now baby-dads on paternity duty. For them, a longer leave is a natural choice and has always been in their interest even before the Danish reform from August 2022 came into force, earmarking 11 weeks of the total leave for the other parent. The desired effect is to boost equality and foster a closer relationship between the child and the other parent from an early age.
Both Kasper, Sam and Mads confirm that a longer period of paternity has fostered a closer bond to their children and has contributed to a better work-life balance for both parents. We sat down with all three dads to learn more about their choice and experience from “life on leave”.