‘The family administrator’: women take most responsibility for information-seeking, planning and administration of parental benefit in Sweden

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper investigates parents’ information-seeking about parental leave. It examines gendered patterns in parents’ contacts with the Swedish Social Insurance Agency (SSIA) over telephone, email, and on Facebook with a combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis. We show that women not only contact the SSIA more than men do, they also to a larger extent approach the SSIA early on – a practice that may facilitate strategic planning – as well as administer their partner’s leave. By such means, the paper sheds light on women’s role as ‘administrator’ in taking more responsibility for both their own and their partner’s parental leave. These findings are in line with previous research showing that women often act as the ‘project leader’ of the family, taking responsibility for unpaid (and often unrecognized) tasks that make everyday life run smoothly. In shedding light on women’s considerable administrative responsibility for parental leave, the study thus brings new knowledge on what might be one piece of the puzzle of the slow progression of gender equality in this area, pointing to informational and administrative services as a potential arena for gender equality-promoting work.