Parental Gender Preference and Parental Leave Use: To What Extent Parental Leave Use Can Be Explained by Gender Preferences

Parental leave use may be influenced by child gender preferences, which can vary based on parental gender, migrant background as well as birth order of the child. Using Swedish register data, this study explores two key questions: (1) Does the sex composition of children influence parental leave use? (2) Do any potential effects differ based on mothers’ and fathers’ migrant background? Understanding gender preferences in parental leave may have important policy implications as parental time investment plays a crucial role in child well-being, with mothers and fathers contributing in distinct ways. Moreover, paternal involvement has been associated with continued fertility and greater couple stability, benefiting both families and society in the long run. This study is among the first to examine the intersection of birth order, gender preferences, and migrant background in parental leave decisions, providing a comprehensive analysis of how gender preference shape caregiving behavior. Our results show interesting variations in gender preferences by country of origin of the parents, though many of the statistically significant differences represent relatively small differences in actual days of leave taken.