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Sharing Responsibility? Short- and Long-term Effects of Sweden's "Daddy-Month" Reform

Author

Listed:
  • Ekberg, John

    (Department of Economics, Stockholm University)

  • Eriksson, Rickard

    (Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University)

  • Friebel, Guido

    (EHESS and IDEI, University of Toulouse)

Abstract

In 1995, the Swedish government reformed the parental leave system with the view to increase the share of fathers in child care, change gender roles in society, and improve the chances of mothers in the labor market. We investigate a unique data set comprising the entire population of Swedish children born in a span of two weeks before and two weeks after the reform. The reform constitutes a natural experiment. Comparing two cohorts of a total of 7600 newborns, their mothers, and fathers over a period of eight years, we look at a) the number of days mothers and fathers take parental leave and b) the number of days for care of sick children. We find that the reform had a strong short-term effect on parental leave by fathers, but that there are no long-run effects on fathers' willingness to increase their part in care for sick children.

Suggested Citation

  • Ekberg, John & Eriksson, Rickard & Friebel, Guido, 2004. "Sharing Responsibility? Short- and Long-term Effects of Sweden's "Daddy-Month" Reform," Working Paper Series 3/2004, Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:hhs:sofiwp:2004_003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Altonji, Joseph G. & Blank, Rebecca M., 1999. "Race and gender in the labor market," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 48, pages 3143-3259, Elsevier.
    2. Christopher J. Ruhm, 1998. "The Economic Consequences of Parental Leave Mandates: Lessons from Europe," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(1), pages 285-317.
    3. James W. Albrecht & Per-Anders Edin & Marianne Sundström & Susan B. Vroman, 1999. "Career Interruptions and Subsequent Earnings: A Reexamination Using Swedish Data," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 34(2), pages 294-311.
    4. Christopher J. Ruhm & Jackqueline L. Teague, 1995. "Parental Leave Policies in Europe and North America," NBER Working Papers 5065, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. George A. Akerlof & Rachel E. Kranton, 2000. "Economics and Identity," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 715-753.
    6. Kenneth I. Wolpin & Mark R. Rosenzweig, 2000. "Natural "Natural Experiments" in Economics," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(4), pages 827-874, December.
    7. Gary S. Becker, 1981. "A Treatise on the Family," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number beck81-1, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Anna Amilon, 2007. "On the sharing of temporary parental leave: the case of Sweden," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 5(4), pages 385-404, December.
    2. Blome, Agnes, 2011. "Work/care policies in European welfare states: Continuing variety or change towards a common model?," Discussion Papers, Research Professorship Demographic Development, Social Change, and Social Capital SP I 2011-401, WZB Berlin Social Science Center.

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    Keywords

    Gender; Labor market; Natural Experiment; Policy Evaluations;
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