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Career Interruptions Due to Parental Leave: A Comparative Study of Denmark and Sweden

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  • Elina Pylkkänen
  • Nina Smith

Abstract

Parental leave mandates are associated with high female employment rates, but with reductions in relative female wages if leave is of extended durations. If fathers were given longer periods of leave, would it shorten the career breaks of women? We analyze the impact of family policies of Denmark and Sweden on women’s career breaks due to childbirth. These countries are culturally similar and share the same type of welfare state ideology, but differ remarkably in pursued family policies. Compared to Denmark, leave provisions in Sweden are more generous in terms of both duration and payment rates, and allow for flexible use until the child is 8 years old. In both countries childcare coverage rates are high, but very young (age 0-2) Danish children are more likely to be in day-care than in Sweden. This setting provides us with a fruitful point of departure to analyze explicitly the effects of different family policy regimes on job retention of Danish and Swedish mothers. Our ... Le dispositif de congé parental est associé à des taux d'emploi féminin élevés mais l’est aussi à une réduction des salaires relatifs des femmes si les congés sont de longue durée. Si les congés accordés aux pères étaient plus longs, les interruptions de carrière des femmes seraient-elles plus courtes ? Nous analysons l'incidence de la politique de la famille au Danemark et en Suède sur les interruptions de carrière des femmes après une naissance. Ces deux pays ont une culture analogue et adhèrent au même type d'idéologie en matière de protection sociale mais ils se différencient de façon remarquable dans la mise en œuvre de leur politique familiale respective. En ce qui concerne les congés, en comparaison avec le Danemark les provisions en Suède sont plus généreuses, aussi bien dans leur durée qu'au niveau des taux de paiement et un usage plus souple est permis jusqu'à ce que l'enfant ait atteint l'âge de huit ans. Dans les deux pays, les taux de garde pour les enfants sont ...

Suggested Citation

  • Elina Pylkkänen & Nina Smith, 2003. "Career Interruptions Due to Parental Leave: A Comparative Study of Denmark and Sweden," OECD Social, Employment and Migration Working Papers 1, OECD Publishing.
    • Handle: RePEc:oec:elsaab:1-en
    DOI: 10.1787/048564246616
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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • J1 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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