A photography exhibition about the men of today – "Swedish Dads – Latvian Dads" (Tētis Zviedrijā – Tētis Latvijā) – by Swedish photographer Johan Bävman will be on display in Nordic Council Ministers Office in Latvia from 10 until 31 March. Its content is adapted from the exhibition Swedish Dads, which portrays men who have taken paternity leave.
The exhibition explores what exactly prompted these fathers to stay with their children for longer than most fathers around the world do, how that experience was and what it has given them. Sweden has one of the most generous paid family leave policies in the world. It became the first country to introduce a gender-neutral paid parental leave benefit — in 1974. And today, 45 years later, parents are allowed to take 480 days of paid parental leave per child and fathers use an average 29% of the total parental leave days.
Latvian photographers Anda Krauze and Māris Lazdāns have supplemented the exhibition with 25 Latvian portraits – the winning portraits in the Dads in Latvia competition announced by the Swedish Embassy.