Childcare and family ideology in Sweden

Sandra Krapf, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research

This study examines the impact of public and private childcare supply and family ideologies on individual childbearing behavior in Sweden. The central argument is that childcare provision incentivizes parenthood depending on the degree to which potential parents accept the concept of child-minding outside the family. In the empirical part, we use logistic regressions to analyze the entry into parenthood. Based on the Swedish survey "Family and Working Life in the 21st Century" and regional data, we find that the probability to become parents is low in regions with high childcare provision. However, in regions where non-familial childcare is accepted and the childcare supply is high, individuals are more likely to have a first child. This finding shows the influence of traditionalist attitudes towards family arrangements on fertility behavior and childcare usage.