ESTONIAN COUPLES’ RATIONALIZATIONS FOR FATHERS’ REJECTION OF PARENTAL LEAVE

Abstract

Taking care of babies has long been considered the woman’s job par excellence, with its equivalent for men being breadwinning outside the home. Today many countries, among them Estonia, encourage parents to reject a rigidly gendered division of labor. Most of the material and legal impediments to fathers’ opting for a nurturing role as a lifestyle choice have been abolished. But despite the recent availability of parental leave to fathers, Estonian parents’ division of labor remains rather conservative. Based on 18 semi-structured interviews with couples, the analysis focuses on couples’ private discoursive strategies that reflect and enforce conservative cultural values, interfering with the nurturing father revolution.