Consequences of fathers' parental leave use: evidence from Sweden

Ann-Zofie Duvander, Stockholm University
Ann-Christin Jans, National Social Insurance Agency

Fathers’ parental leave use is often assumed to affect gender equality both in the home and in the labour market. In the homes, fathers’ parental leave is expected to improve the father-child contact later on in the child’s life. In this paper the association between two aspects of fathers’ lives and parental leave use are investigated. The first research question is whether fathers who have used parental leave are more likely to have shorter working hours during their children’s first years compared to fathers who have not used the leave. The second question is whether the contact between separated fathers and their children is associated with the father’s previous parental leave use. The findings indicate that fathers’ parental leave is associated with both shorter working hours later in the child’s life, and with more contact with separated fathers.