Gender Revolution for Whom? Parental leave division and union dissolution risks among parental groups in Sweden

Abstract: The Swedish parental leave policy and father’s quota reforms have contributed to the norm that fathers should be involved in the care of the youngest children. While theories suggest that fathers’ involvement in domestic work increase family stability, earlier research has been inconclusive on the relationship between parental leave use and union dissolution risk. This study suggests that norms regarding whether to share parental leave equally differ between groups and that norm compliance and related dissolution risks therefore differ. The study analyses the relationship between parental leave division and dissolution risks in relationships characterized by educational homogamy, hypogamy or hypergamy. Dissolution risks for parents of the 2002-2009 child cohort are analysed using register data and a discrete hazard regression model. The results indicate that almost all parental groups experience lower dissolution risk when the fathers use some parental leave. However, only couples where both have high education have a possible further reduced dissolution risk when sharing parental leave equally. Couples where both have low education, or where the woman has relatively higher education, experience increased risks when sharing equally. Parental leave division seems to matter less among couples where the man has relatively higher education. Implications for theory are discussed