Imagine a country where the state spends more on preschool child care than on its defence budget
David Cameron may want to copy Sweden’s ample child care benefits to get more women into top jobs, but that wouldn’t work in Britain. - Earlier this month, David Cameron posed on the edge of the Baltic Sea in wintry Stockholm and wondered what Britain could learn from countries like Sweden to promote the number of British women in top jobs. As an expat on my second maternity leave in Sweden, I admire Cameron’s ambitions but question whether Britain is ready for the huge cultural changes this would entail. Certainly, Swedish society does a great deal to support women at work and at home. Affordable (state-funded) child care makes it possible for many mothers to return to work, and the parental leave system encourages fathers to play an important role in raising their children. But would Mr Cameron be prepared to take on the eye‑wateringly high costs involved in implementing a Swedish-style system?