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Impact of a Reform Towards Shared Parental Leave on Continued Fertility in Norway and Sweden

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  • Ann-Zofie Duvander

    (Stockholm University)

  • Trude Lappegard

    (Oslo University)

  • Mats Johansson

    (Swedish Ministry of Finance)

Abstract

It has been argued that a generous family policy aimed at a gender-equal division of childcare and economic responsibility will have a positive impact on childbearing. In this study, we investigate whether fathers’ parental leave use is related to continued childbearing and whether there has been a policy effect on fertility behavior due to the introduction of the father’s quota in Norway and Sweden. Fathers’ parental leave use may affect fertility by easing women’s work burden at home and thus enhancing the degree of compatibility between childrearing and female employment, and it may increase fathers’ interest in children and childcare. To distinguish causality from selection in the effects observed, we use the natural experiment of the introduction of the father’s quotas. The results indicate that the reforms did not influence fertility in Norway but that Swedish couples with a lower income had a temporary higher third-birth risk. Fathers in this group showed the greatest increase in leave use after the reform.

Suggested Citation

  • Ann-Zofie Duvander & Trude Lappegard & Mats Johansson, 2020. "Impact of a Reform Towards Shared Parental Leave on Continued Fertility in Norway and Sweden," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 39(6), pages 1205-1229, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:39:y:2020:i:6:d:10.1007_s11113-020-09574-y
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-020-09574-y
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    1. Fontenay, Sébastien & Tojerow, Ilan, 2020. "Work Disability after Motherhood and How Paternity Leave Can Help," IZA Discussion Papers 13756, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    2. Jonas Wood & Leen Marynissen & Dries Gasse, 2023. "When is it About the Money? Relative Wages and Fathers’ Parental Leave Decisions," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 42(6), pages 1-24, December.
    3. Youngcho Lee, 2022. "Is Leave for Fathers Pronatalist? A Mixed-Methods Study of the Impact of Fathers’ Uptake of Parental Leave on Couples’ Childbearing Intentions in South Korea," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 41(4), pages 1471-1500, August.
    4. Jolene Tan, 2023. "Perceptions towards pronatalist policies in Singapore," Journal of Population Research, Springer, vol. 40(3), pages 1-27, September.
    5. Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Rannveig Kaldager Hart, 2021. "Can Policies Stall the Fertility Fall? A Systematic Review of the (Quasi‐) Experimental Literature," Population and Development Review, The Population Council, Inc., vol. 47(4), pages 913-964, December.
    6. Rannveig Kaldager Hart & Janna Bergsvik & Agnes Fauske & Wookun Kim, 2023. "Causal Analysis of Policy Effects on Fertility," CESifo Working Paper Series 10690, CESifo.

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