IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/dem/demres/v49y2023i30.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Attitudes toward work and parenthood following family-building transitions in Sweden: Identifying differences by gender and education

Author

Listed:
  • Eva Bernhardt

    (Stockholms Universitet)

  • Frances Goldscheider

    (Brown University)

  • Malgorzata Switek

    (Milken Institute)

Abstract

Objective: This paper examines how family-building transitions (union formation and first birth) affect the attitudes of Swedes toward work and parenthood. The literature finds that these life course transitions have a traditionalizing effect on gender roles. Is this also the case in Sweden, one of the most gender-equal countries in the world? Methods: Our study uses the longitudinal Young Adult Panel Study database. We run first-difference OLS regressions on the relationship between family-building transitions and work and parenthood attitudes, distinguishing men from women, and those with more education from those with less. Results: We find that family transitions do slightly traditionalize attitudes toward work and parenthood, but differences by gender and education are very small. Contribution: The overall pattern is one of striking similarity between men and women, suggesting that the gender revolution is well advanced in Sweden; traditional gender differences remain primarily among those with less education.

Suggested Citation

  • Eva Bernhardt & Frances Goldscheider & Malgorzata Switek, 2023. "Attitudes toward work and parenthood following family-building transitions in Sweden: Identifying differences by gender and education," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 49(30), pages 783-808.
    • Handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:49:y:2023:i:30
    DOI: 10.4054/DemRes.2023.49.30
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.demographic-research.org/volumes/vol49/30/49-30.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.4054/DemRes.2023.49.30?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Fred Pampel, 2011. "Cohort change, diffusion, and support for gender egalitarianism in cross-national perspective," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 25(21), pages 667-694.
    2. Livia Sz. Oláh & Eva Bernhardt, 2008. "Sweden: Combining childbearing and gender equality," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(28), pages 1105-1144.
    3. Malgorzata Switek, 2016. "Internal Migration and Life Satisfaction: Well-Being Paths of Young Adult Migrants," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 125(1), pages 191-241, January.
    4. Claudia Goldin, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women's Employment, Education, and Family," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(2), pages 1-21, May.
    5. Sara Mclanahan, 2004. "Diverging destinies: How children are faring under the second demographic transition," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 41(4), pages 607-627, November.
    6. Goldin, Claudia, 2006. "The Quiet Revolution That Transformed Women’s Employment, Education, and Family," Scholarly Articles 2943933, Harvard University Department of Economics.
    7. Guy Moors, 2003. "Estimating the Reciprocal Effect of Gender Role Attitudes and Family Formation: A Log-linear Path Model with Latent Variables," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 19(2), pages 199-221, June.
    8. Marie Evertsson & Katarina Boye & Jeylan Erman, 2018. "Fathers on call? A study on the sharing of care work between parents in Sweden," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 39(2), pages 33-60.
    9. Suzanne Bianchi, 2000. "Maternal employment and time with children: Dramatic change or surprising continuity?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 37(4), pages 401-414, November.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tomáš Sobotka, 2008. "Overview Chapter 6: The diverse faces of the Second Demographic Transition in Europe," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 19(8), pages 171-224.
    2. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 2014. "Cohabitation and the Uneven Retreat from Marriage in the United States, 1950–2010," NBER Chapters, in: Human Capital in History: The American Record, pages 241-272, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    3. Kelly Musick & Pilar Gonalons‐Pons & Christine R. Schwartz, 2022. "Change and Variation in U.S. Couples’ Earnings Equality Following Parenthood," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 48(2), pages 413-443, June.
    4. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 2013. "Cohabitation and the Uneven Retreat from Marriage in the U.S., 1950-2010," NBER Working Papers 19413, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Ariane Pailhé & Anne Solaz & Maria Stanfors, 2021. "The Great Convergence: Gender and Unpaid Work in Europe and the United States," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(1), pages 181-217, March.
    6. Maria Stanfors & Frances Goldscheider, 2017. "The forest and the trees: Industrialization, demographic change, and the ongoing gender revolution in Sweden and the United States, 1870-2010," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 36(6), pages 173-226.
    7. Shelly Lundberg & Robert A. Pollak, 2007. "The American Family and Family Economics," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 21(2), pages 3-26, Spring.
    8. Alícia Adserà, 2017. "Education and fertility in the context of rising inequality," Vienna Yearbook of Population Research, Vienna Institute of Demography (VID) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna, vol. 15(1), pages 063-94.
    9. Mariano Tommasi & María Edo & Agustina Thailinger, 2021. "Familia y desarrollo humano en el siglo XXI. Revisión de la literatura internacional y algunos apuntes para el caso argentino," Working Papers 152, Universidad de San Andres, Departamento de Economia, revised May 2021.
    10. Katie R. Genadek & Sarah M. Flood & Joan Garcia Roman, 2016. "Trends in Spouses’ Shared Time in the United States, 1965–2012," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 53(6), pages 1801-1820, December.
    11. Javier García-Manglano, 2015. "Opting Out and Leaning In: The Life Course Employment Profiles of Early Baby Boom Women in the United States," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 52(6), pages 1961-1993, December.
    12. Rense Nieuwenhuis, 2022. "Single Parents Competing in a Dual-Earner Society: Social Policy to Level the Playing Field," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 702(1), pages 114-128, July.
    13. Rense Nieuwenhuis, 2022. "Single Parents Competing in a Dual-Earner Society: Leveling the Playing Field," LIS Working papers 825, LIS Cross-National Data Center in Luxembourg.
    14. John Iceland, 2021. "US disparities in affluence by household structure, 1959 to 2017," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 44(28), pages 653-698.
    15. Patrick Ishizuka, 2018. "The Economic Foundations of Cohabiting Couples’ Union Transitions," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(2), pages 535-557, April.
    16. Frans Poppel & Niels Schenk & Ruben Gaalen, 2013. "Demographic Transitions and Changes in the Living Arrangements of Children: The Netherlands 1850–2010," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 32(2), pages 243-260, April.
    17. Maria J. Prados & Stefania Albanesi, 2011. "Inequality and Household Labor Supply," 2011 Meeting Papers 657, Society for Economic Dynamics.
    18. Herrendorf, Berthold & Rogerson, Richard & Valentinyi, Ákos, 2014. "Growth and Structural Transformation," Handbook of Economic Growth, in: Philippe Aghion & Steven Durlauf (ed.), Handbook of Economic Growth, edition 1, volume 2, chapter 6, pages 855-941, Elsevier.
    19. Benjamin Bennett & Isil Erel & Léa H. Stern & Zexi Wang, 2020. "Paid Leave Pays Off: The Effects of Paid Family Leave on Firm Performance," NBER Working Papers 27788, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    20. Committee, Nobel Prize, 2023. "Scientific Background to the Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel 2023," Nobel Prize in Economics documents 2023-2, Nobel Prize Committee.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    gender equality; educational inequality; family-building transitions; parenthood attitudes; work attitudes;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • Z0 - Other Special Topics - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:dem:demres:v:49:y:2023:i:30. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Editorial Office (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.demogr.mpg.de/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.