This still boggles my mind as a Swede, how this is not the norm. Children are people who need the right circumstances, being with both their parents at an early age should definitiely be one of them.

On the flip side, as a single person, I can definitely see how alot of benefits you can claim as a healthy, working career person are tied to having a family with kids. Our taxes subsidize day care, kid sports clubs and many other expensive things that are exclusive to kids. And, as long as you announce it with enough warning, your employer has to grant and handle your paternal leave so a lot of people use it as a way to claim the best weeks for vacation leaving us single people puzzling how to get the most out of summer.

Still, raising children is no cake walk and I would rather that parents have the support they need from the government than the whole situation affecting the children.