Does Fathers’ Care Spill Over? Evaluating Reforms in the Swedish Parental Leave Program

Ann-Zofie Duvander,Mats Johansson

doi:10.1080/13545701.2018.1474240

Ann-Zofie Duvander, Mats Johansson

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1080/13545701.2018.1474240

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Journal: Feminist Economics	Publication Date: Jun 11, 2018
Citations: 25	License type: open-access

Affiliation: Stockholm University, Ministry of Finance

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe aim of reserving months for fathers in the Swedish parental leave system was to increase fathers’ use of leave as well as encourage gender equality in the home and labor market. Using data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, this study investigates the effects of the reform – reserving one month of leave for fathers in 1995 and a second month in 2002 – on gender equality in the home. The study uses the take up of the parental benefit for the care for sick children (CFSC) as a proxy for gender equality and follows parents’ use of CFSC for twelve years for the first reform and ten years for the second reform. Results indicate the first reform led to more equal leave sharing, mainly because use of the benefit decreased among mothers with low education, and at least in part fulfilled the aim of increasing gender equality in the home.

Highlights

In many European countries, various aspects of family policy have recently been used as policy instruments to attain desired goals
This study focuses on whether the more extensive goals of increased gender equality in homes have been reached through reserving days for fathers in the Swedish parental leave system
We investigate the sharing of care for sick children (CFSC) as a proxy for gender equality in the home (Eriksson and Nermo 2010)

Summary

Introduction

In many European countries, various aspects of family policy have recently been used as policy instruments to attain desired goals. The Nordic countries are often seen as forerunners here, not just in generosity and in earmarking part of the leave for each parent with the goal of gender-equal use. In Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden, part of the leave is reserved for use exclusively by the father and another part for use by the mother (Moss 2013). The reserved part of the leave in Sweden, often referred to as the father’s quota, was introduced with the distinctive goals of not ARTICLE just promoting gender-equal use, and encouraging gender equality in homes and the labor market. This study focuses on whether the more extensive goals of increased gender equality in homes have been reached through reserving days for fathers in the Swedish parental leave system

Methods

Results

Conclusion