Urban space in the everyday lives of mothers and fathers on family leave in Helsinki

What is it about?

Finland is a part of the Nordic model that emphasises ‘family-friendly arrangements’, such as family leave for mothers and fathers. To date, there is little research on how parents use urban space on family leave, although it is known that fathers stay on family leave more often in urban areas. Based on a triangulation of qualitative data on the day-to-day life of mothers and fathers on family leave, the paper argues that particular place-dependent ways of being on family leave take place in the inner city. Mixed-use pavements in many ways help mothers and fathers to cope in their new life situation and break the isolation often associated with family leave. The data also shows the importance of family-friendly public and commercial places in the city, such as playgrounds and accessible grocery shops, cafeterias and restaurants

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Why is it important?

The number of children is increasing in many inner cities. Still very little is known about the everyday life of the parents of these children. This paper is about the places that parents, both mothers and fathers, use while on family leave in Helsinki, Finland.