Ann-Zofie Duvander

Family policy and fertility: fathers’ and mothers’ use of parental leave and continued childbearing in Norway and Sweden:

In the Nordic countries, gender equality is an explicit policy goal. For example, Norway and Sweden both offer paid parental leave for approximately one year following childbirth with earnings-related benefits and with certain periods reserved exclusively for the father. In this study, we examine the relationship between fathers’ and mothers’ use of parental leave and continued childbearing among couples in Norway and Sweden. The two countries offer largely similar family policies, but differ concerning family policy context. While Sweden has a consistent policy concerning gender relations, Norway has more ambiguous family policies giving incentives both to gender equality and childrearing at home. Our study is based on event-history analyses of Nordic register data and shows that fathers’ parental leave use is positively associated with continued childbearing in both Norway and Sweden, for both one- and two-child couples. The association is stronger in Norway. For two-child families, a long period of leave for the mother is positively associated with a third birth. It seems as if the two-child family is highly compatible with the combination of work and family life, but that in families who choose to have more children, the mother often seems to have a weaker work orientation.

The Transition From Cohabitation to Marriage A Longitudinal Study of the Propensity to Marry in Sweden in the Early 1990s

In Sweden, cohabitation is the norm before marriage and is in many ways equal to marriage. By investigating the transition from cohabitation to marriage, this study seeks to clarify how those who marry differ from those who do not. The study uses the Swedish Family Survey of 1992 together with register data of marriages and births for the following 2 years. Information on partners attitudes and marriage plans is obtained from a self-administered questionnaire. The risk of marriage for women who were cohabiting at the time of interview is analyzed with event history analysis. The results show that life course stage, economic gains in marriage, and family socialization predict whether cohabiting women will turn their unions into marriages. In addition, attitudes toward leisure and parenthood influence marriage propensities. Marriage plans explain some, but not all, of those effects.

What are the effects of reforms promoting fathers’ parental leave use?

Since the introduction of parental leave in Sweden a more gender-equal division of such leave has been targeted. In 1995 one month was reserved for each parent, implying that the month was forfeited if not used by the same parent. A second month was reserved in 2002. In 2008, a gender equality bonus was introduced, meaning that tax credits were given to parents who shared the leave equally. This study investigates the effects of these reforms on parental leave use by means of a difference-in-difference approach with parents of children born just before and just after the introduction of each reform. We use register data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, which include all parents residing in Sweden. The results indicate a strong effect on parental leave use resulting from the introduction of the first reserved month, a more modest but clear effect resulting from the second reserved month and, so far, no effect resulting from the gender equality bonus. Possible interpretations of the results are that (1) reserved time may be more effective than an economic bonus, (2) change from low levels of use may be easier and (3) reforms may matter most when they are first introduced.

Earner-Carer Model at the Crossroads: Reforms and Outcomes of Sweden's Family Policy in Comparative Perspective

Following the 2006 election, the Swedish earner-carer model of family policy seems to have come to an important crossroads, and questions have been raised about the future course of policies. Will the prototypical earner-carer model in Sweden persist? The separate reforms in cash transfers, services, and tax systems in several respects seem to point in contradictory directions, simultaneously introducing new principles of social care. In this article, past and present reforms and potential outcomes of policies are discussed from an institutional and comparative perspective. Reviewing research on outcomes of earner-carer policies for gendered patterns of productive and reproductive work, class-based stratification, child well-being, fertility, and work–family conflict, the article also contributes to the discussion about future challenges for family policy institutions in Sweden and other advanced welfare states.

Changes in gender equality?: Swedish fathers' parental leave, division of childcare and housework

Abstract Sweden is well known for its family policy and this study explores whether fathers’ parental leave is related to later division of childcare and housework. Two materials were used; a panel survey (2003, 2009) and an interview- study (2008). Respondents in the survey had their first child between the waves and the interview-study focused on parents of 2–3 year olds. The survey is analyzed by logistic regression and the interviews by grounded theory. The results indicate that when fathers took long leave parents shared both household tasks and childcare more equally after the leave. Higher expectations of sharing childcare is related to a higher share of divided childcare once becoming parents, although it seems that some tasks are more often shared than others. When the father took long leave both parents mention that the child relates to the father as much as the mother in everyday life.

How Long Should Parental Leave Be? Attitudes to Gender Equality, Family, and Work as Determinants of Women’s and Men’s Parental Leave in Sweden

A more equal division of parental leave use between parents has been a major political goal in Sweden for a long time, as it is assumed to lead to gender equality in the labor market, as well as in the homes. The assumed correlation between gender equality and shared parental leave has many aspects, but it has been investigated only in part. In this study, we investigate the determinants of men’s and women’s parental leave use with a focus on attitudes toward family, work, and gender equality. We use the Young Adult Panel Study with surveys conducted in 1999, 2003, and 2009. The findings indicate that gender equality orientation matters for parental leave for fathers. Mothers’ parental leave length is primarily influenced by family orientation, whereas fathers’ is influenced by the economic dimension of work.

Cash for childcare schemes in the Nordic welfare states : diverse paths, diverse outcomes

ABSTRACT Recent family policy developments may blur conventional family policy typologies. While policies in some European welfare states are shifting away from strong male breadwinner regimes towards work–family reconciliation, the adding of cash for childcare (CFC) benefits in Nordic earner-carer welfare states points in the opposite direction. How can we understand growing family policy hybridisation? Comparison of CFC schemes in the five Nordic countries is the empirical basis of the discussion here – what does the insertion of such a familistic policy measure actually mean? The analysis displays diverse national policy processes and policy outputs and wide variation in parents’ responses to this policy incentive. Reforms have been subject to conflicts and amendments to different degrees, and impact has been shaped by their institution at different times distinguished by mothers’ varying access to childcare services and labour markets. We conclude that conceptualisation of CFC schemes needs to be contextualised in relation to political dynamisms and opportunity structures.

Use It or Save It? Migration Background and Parental Leave Uptake in Sweden

Sweden is a welfare state with a family policy that strongly emphasizes equality without distinction by place of birth or gender. In this study, we investigate the differences in uptake of parental leave between native and immigrant mothers, and the connection to labour-market attachment. Sweden represents a unique case study, not only because of the strong effort to combine work and family for all women and men, the high level of fertility and the large presence of immigrants in the country; it also enables a detailed and sophisticated analysis based on the high-quality data derived from its population registers. We find that immigrant mothers use more parental leave benefit the first year after their child’s birth, but then fewer in the second year compared with native mothers. The differences diminish when labour-market activity is controlled for. Additionally, after a time in Sweden, immigrant mothers use leave more similarly to how native mothers do.

Moulding Parents’ Childcare? A Comparative Analysis of Paid Work and Time with Children in Different Family Policy Contexts

A major line of conflict cuts across the successful combination of paid work and family life in modern societies. Women are increasingly supposed to be in employment while carrying out the lion’s share of childcare in the home, but men’s behaviour in relation to paid and unpaid work has not changed to the same extent. These social processes are often held to increase the shortage of parental time with children and generate tensions between paid work and family life, in particular for mothers. Such tensions are likely to be particularly manifest in households with young children, who have the greatest care needs.

Sharing the Caring: Attitude–Behavior Discrepancies and Partnership Dynamics

Even though ideals in favor of gender equality in the private sphere are wide spread, discrepancies between ideals and actual behavior are common. Such discrepancies and potential dissatisfaction with gender unequal behavior within a couple are expected to influence partnership dynamics negatively. This study examines how discrepancies between the perceived ideal sharing of parental leave and the actual division of leave, as well as satisfaction with the division are associated with (a) relationship satisfaction, (b) continued childbearing, and (c) union dissolution, using Swedish panel data. The findings cannot confirm an effect of discrepancies on partnership dynamics. However, men who wish they had used a larger share of the parental leave have lower relationship satisfaction, lower continued childbearing, and higher probability of union dissolution. Women are seemingly not affected by their (dis)satisfaction with the division. The findings may reflect a changing father role related to the policy setting and norms in Sweden.