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Income loss and leave taking: Do financial benefit top-ups influence fathers’ parental leave use in Sweden?
Version 2 2020-03-20, 10:40
Version 1 2020-03-19, 09:59
preprint
posted on 2020-03-20, 10:40 authored by Ann-Zofie DuvanderAnn-Zofie Duvander, Karin Halldén, Alison Koslowski, Gabriella Sjögren LindquistOne of the major reasons for a
gendered division of parental leave is the financial compensation during leave.
Swedish national parental leave benefit provides 77.6 % of earlier earnings up
to a ceiling, but collective agreements between employer and unions have over
time developed to cover the income loss during leave. We focus on the
importance of such agreements for fathers’ parental leave take-up. The main
division of agreements is between the 1) state, 2) municipality and county and
3) private sector. The difference in agreements for different segments of the
labor market is likely to influence parental leave use, especially for parents
with income over the ceiling and who would otherwise lose a lot financially
while on leave. We compare how parental leave is used in the beginning of the
2000s and a decade later, when agreements have been expanded. Our focus will be
on men in different sectors and with different income levels, thus differently
affected by the change in the agreements. We focus on first born children. Results indicate that high-income fathers
increase their use over the time period. Especially in the private sector a
polarization can be seen, where fathers with high income increase their leave
use over time while fathers with lower incomes fall behind. However, we find
only small differences in trends in leave take-up between fathers’ in different
sectors. The study deepens our understanding of how and whether the level of
financial compensation during leave matters for take-up, even in an already
generous statutory system.
Funding
the Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare (Forte). His and her earnings following parenthood and implications for social inequality: Cohort and cross-national comparisons (DNR 2015-01139)
the Swedish Research Council (VR) (DNR 2015-013191)
History
ISSN
2002-617XOriginal title
Income loss and leave taking: Do financial benefit top-ups influence fathers’ parental leave use in Sweden?Original language
- English