00:01Sigrun Mehta and Steinar are growing up with the idea that being a boy or a girl
00:06shouldn't define who they can be.
00:08In Iceland, equality starts at home.
00:11Mom and dad both work full-time and both handle the kids, cooking and chaos.
00:17Here, that's not a political statement. It's just Thursday.
00:20We haven't talked about it.
00:22You do the laundry and you do the deep cleaning.
00:26He has to do the tidying and the cooking.
00:29If he has free time to do something, he will do it.
00:33And if I have the time, then I will do it.
00:34We really don't talk that much about it. It just happens.
00:40In case you didn't know, Iceland is like Taylor Swift when it comes to gender equality.
00:45Fifteen years straight at number one in the Global Gender Gap Report.
00:49It ranks countries by how equally women and men share power, pay, education and health.
00:57No other country closes the gap better.
01:03Let's zoom in on this typical Icelandic family.
01:07Magrit works in youth services.
01:10Haiti is a physiotherapist.
01:13Sigrun Mehta is a first grader.
01:15And Steinar Marr III is in preschool.
01:18Tiny humans, tight schedules.
01:21School starts at 8.30 a.m. sharp.
01:24And like most families, they hop in the car.
01:26Iceland is near the top when it comes to cars per capita.
01:31Steinar goes to preschool, like 86% of all kids under five in Iceland.
01:36From age three, basically everyone is in early education.
01:39In the mornings getting them to school, it can be stressful.
01:43Getting them on time and getting them used to kindergarten, getting them used to school.
01:50Yeah, that's probably been like the most challenging for us.
01:55Preschool is a big deal in Iceland.
01:58It's subsidized.
01:59Parents only pay a small monthly contribution.
02:02That's what makes full-time work for both parents possible.
02:05Families also get yearly child benefits.
02:08Around 2,400 euros per child.
02:11Plus around 900 euros more for kids under seven.
02:14If you earn a lot, you get a little less.
02:19Iceland was one of the first countries to introduce nearly equally paid parental leave in the year 2000.
02:25With parents still getting about 80% of their salary.
02:31Both parents are like entitled to six months, which is great.
02:37And then usually the one that like gave birth takes the six weeks that you can't divide.
02:45This afternoon, Halti is taking the kids swimming.
02:48Very Icelandic.
02:50Geothermal pools are everywhere.
02:52They're naturally heated by volcanic energy and hot springs.
02:56Most babies start swimming classes at just three to six months.
03:01Sigrun Mehta and Steinar did too.
03:04They start swimming lessons like every week.
03:07And they do it until they finish the 10th grade.
03:11So for 10 years we have swim lessons.
03:15So, yeah.
03:16And that's like in every weather.
03:18It has to be like, I don't remember the temperature.
03:21It has to be like minus five for it to be postponed.
03:24It has to be really cold.
03:27Yeah.
03:29Iceland's extreme seasons shape daily life.
03:32In summer it hardly gets dark.
03:34In winter, hardly light.
03:37That makes routines even more important.
03:40At Margret and Halti's home, dinner together is non-negotiable.
03:45Even if the kids don't want to eat their vegetables.
03:50Sometimes they eat it, sometimes they don't.
03:51And if they would choose, it would be hamburgers, hot dogs and pizza.
03:56Every day.
03:58But, yeah.
04:00When it comes to parenting, their priority is clear.
04:04Raising happy kids.
04:05And making sure the family gets real quality time together.
04:09In general, we try to be like not really strict.
04:12I think we have like, our approach is more like calm and try to discuss things.
04:19I think it's just to be like, a nice person.
04:24Like, not to be like a well behaved person or disciplined.
04:29Gender equality is not something we think about every day.
04:32But of course, like living in Iceland, it affects us.
04:36Like, we have the same expectations to them both.
04:39And we want like, the same for them.
04:44So, what do Icelandic parents do differently?
04:47Maybe it's the natural way they simply treat their kids as equals.
04:51And now we find our team about Maya's tables.
04:53I need rice.
04:54And they're like, yeah man.
04:56It's real.
04:56You
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