Rikard – Self-employed on parental leave

“Hi there! I’m on parental leave almost all day on Mondays and Tuesdays …” This is the response that greets anyone who sends an email to Rikard Häll. Rikard is currently combining self-employed work in the advertising industry with part-time parental leave. 

Rikard has worked in advertising a long while and has been running It’s just me, his own mini-advertising agency, from his office in Karlsborg since 2018. He usually takes on graphic design and animation assignments. But right now, he’s not at his desk as much as usual. He spends half the week at home with his 8-month old daughter, Alba.

“I might be a little older than average to be having my first child, but I only see benefits from that. Alba managed to arrive just before I turned 40, and I’d been yearning to be a dad. Being at home with my daughter has always seemed the natural thing for me to do. It’s both fulfilling and joyful, but I also feel that it’s important to bond with her early on. And now is my chance, before she starts preschool and school. And I want to take full advantage of it!”

Rikard and his fiancée Jessica had initially planned to take leave together for around two months. Then Jessica would stay at home full-time before they gradually began sharing parental leave between them. Their plan proved to be precisely what suited the new family best. It was a difficult delivery, and afterwards both were needed at home.

“I took out double days and vacation days. This meant we both could be at home for a little over two months. We had to prioritize the family, it’s the most important thing we have.”

After a few months working full-time, Rikard is back on parental leave. At 25% for the time being, but he will soon increase this so that he and his fiancée share work and parental leave equally. 

Play, hugs and long walks in the woods

It’s all eyes on Alba when Rikard is at home.

“She hasn’t started crawling yet, so we’re encouraging her to spend a lot of time on her stomach, but it’s not her favorite pastime,” laughs Rikard.

In addition to everything to do with raising infants, like changing diapers, mealtimes, play, hugs and long walks in the woods, Rikard and Alba regularly attend song and music meetings in Tibro.

“We live in a small community between Karlsborg and Tibro. There are plenty of activities for people on parental leave. The music meetings in Tibro suit us to a T. We sit in a ring and sing and dance. Sometimes the children are given instruments. It’s really good fun to be there. The kids are all so drop-dead cute!”

“Everyone is so supportive.”

But what about business when he’s only working half-time? Just fine, according to Richard.

“Most people have children, so they know how things are. Everyone is supportive and understanding. Things can naturally get a bit stressful and I never like to turn down assignments. But family comes first, something I think my customers understand and also encourage.”

Rikard is far from being the only father at home looking after his children. In Sweden, the regulations encourage couples to share parental leave equally, and the proportion of dads taking parental leave is increasing slowly but surely.

Being at home with his daughter has always seemed the natural thing for Rikard to do. But he also thinks it’s important to give families the latitude to plan for themselves.

“Absolutely no one would ever think it strange that I’m on paternity leave, but were I not to take paternity leave at all, it would seem really strange. For me, it seems perfectly natural that I take care of my daughter, and I appreciate the excellent opportunities for doing so,” concludes Rikard.