Kiwi Dads

About Kiwi Dads

Inspired by the iconic Swedish Dads photo exhibition, Global Women and Parents At Work have co-created Kiwi Dads – a collection of images depicting fathers at home with their children. It is designed to shine a light on the important roles fathers play in caring for their families as part of a global initiative to advance parental leave equality.

This campaign encourages organisations to adopt a shared parental-leave approach: to offer the same leave equally to fathers and mothers, regardless of who is the primary caregiver. The photos are of 13 Kiwi dads from different parts of New Zealand.

Less than 2% of dads take parental leave in New Zealand

When we actively promote men and women as equal carers, we have the opportunity to narrow the gender pay gap, boost workplace productivity and support parents to achieve both their family and work goals

Global studies show…

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Parental leave normalises fatherhood in the workplace by making fathers visible and embedding fatherhood into company culture. When men can be more equal at home, women can be more equal in the workplace.

Introducing Kiwi Dads

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Dads around the world

Swedish Dads

Sweden was the first country in the world to replace maternity leave with parental leave, in 1974. More than 40 years later, fathers take roughly 25 per cent of the total number of days available to the couple. If fathers’ paternity leave continues to increase at the same pace it has kept so far during the 21st century, the use of parental leave will not be gender equal until 2040. Swedish Dads is a photo exhibition based on portraits of fathers who choose to stay home with their babies for at least six months. Photographer Johan Bävman examines why these fathers have chosen to stay home with their children, what the experience has given them, and how their relationship with both their partners and their children has changed as a result. The exhibition aims to show the effects of gender equality in parenting on both individuals and society.

Aussie Dads

In September 2017, Parents At Work commissioned Johan Bävman to curate a series of photographs to exhibit Australian fathers who had taken parental leave as part of an advocacy initiative to promote the need to support more men to participate in sharing the caring load and take primary parental leave. The Aussie’ Dads photographic collection is a not-for-profit initiative, touring internationally alongside Swedish Dads. It was designed to start a conversation, in our workplaces and community to improve and widen the opportunities for men to equally participate in parental leave and engage in flexible work by challenging gender stereotypes and stigma around sharing the caring load in Australia.

About

When men and women are more equal in the home, they can be more equal at work. Equal access to parental leave is crucial to helping us close the gender pay gap and build a more resilient, productive and welcoming New Zealand.

At Global Women, we encourage equality and diversity in leadership through promoting, encouraging and facilitating the development of New Zealand women.

We have over 300 members, each one recognised for her ability to influence and advocate for diversity, equality and leadership. Our leadership programmes have accelerated the careers of more than 400 women. We also provide thought leadership, research, information and advice for those who wish to join us in speaking out for positive change.

We are proud to partner with and support some of New Zealand’s most ambitious organisations, representing more than 110,000 employees.

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And we couldn’t have achieved this without the generous support of: