Volume 29 - Article 40 | Pages 1097–1126  

Domestic gender equality and childbearing in Sweden

By Frances Goldscheider, Eva Bernhardt, Maria Brandén

Abstract

Background: Sweden, which is among the most gender-equal societies in the world, combines 'modern' family patterns such as unmarried cohabitation, delayed parenthood, high maternal labor force participation, and high break-up rates - all usually linked with low birth rates - with relatively high fertility. Sweden also has a high level of shared parental responsibility for home and children.

Objective: After decades of late 20th century research showing that increasing gender equality in the workplace was linked with lower fertility, might gender equality in the home increase fertility?

Methods: Using data from the Swedish Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS), we use Cox regression to examine the effects on first, second, and third births of 1) holding attitudes about sharing equally in the care of the home and children, and 2) actual sharing in these domestic tasks.

Results: Our analysis shows that, measuring attitudes before the transition to parenthood and actual practice four years later, it is inconsistency between sharing attitudes and the actual division of housework that reduces the likelihood of continued childbearing, especially on second births among women.

Conclusions: As women are most likely to confront an inconsistent situation, with egalitarian ideals in a household without equal sharing, it is clear that having a partner who does not share housework is depressing Swedish fertility.

Author's Affiliation

Other articles by the same author/authors in Demographic Research

Attitudes toward work and parenthood following family-building transitions in Sweden: Identifying differences by gender and education
Volume 49 - Article 30

Introduction to the Special Collection on Finding Work-Life Balance: History, Determinants, and Consequences of New Bread-Winning Models in the Industrialized World
Volume 37 - Article 26

Division of housework and his and her view of housework fairness: A typology of Swedish couples
Volume 36 - Article 16

Geographical distance between child and parent after a union dissolution in Sweden, 1974–2011
Volume 48 - Article 17

Family migration in a cross-national perspective: The importance of institutional and cultural context
Volume 36 - Article 10

The forest and the trees: Industrialization, demographic change, and the ongoing gender revolution in Sweden and the United States, 1870-2010
Volume 36 - Article 6

Reconciling studies of men’s gender attitudes and fertility: Response to Westoff and Higgins
Volume 22 - Article 8

Sweden: Combining childbearing and gender equality
Volume 19 - Article 28

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