Sweden's doing something right

I always feel sad when I think about the low birthrates in Europe. Imagine living in a society where there were few children, where people just didn't have the desire or the possibility to bring children into the world. To me that seems like a dying society. You can bring in immigrants, and that's a good thing for all parties, but collectively you'd still feel like a society in decline, importing others instead of reproducing yourselves.

This is an interesting article on Swedish laws allowing and even mandating fathers to take paternity leave when their kids are born. I am most intrigued by the fact that Sweden's socially progressive laws have led to higher birth rates for people. I understand that France, another strong welfare state, also has relatively high birth rates compared to other European countries.

So if Sweden is successfully providing a social safety net for its people and encouraging higher birth rates, that seems to me like a very good thing. And contrary to neoliberal dogma, the country's heavy taxation and strong welfare state aren't stifling economic growth. Add to that that the Swedish government contributes a much higher percentage of its GDP to international development, and it seems that Sweden's society is a model that many other countries would do well to imitate.