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Family Policy and After-Birth Employment Among New Mothers – A Comparison of Finland, Norway and Sweden

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  • Marit Rønsen

    (Statistics Norway)

  • Marianne Sundström

    (Stockholm University)

Abstract

This article compares the employmentpatterns of women after first and second birthin Finland, Norway and Sweden during 1972–1992,focusing on the impact of parental leave andchildcare programs on the transitions tofull-time and part-time work. The resultsunanimously point to the great importance ofthe programs. Women who are entitled to a paidleave have a much higher overall employmententry rate during the first three yearsfollowing birth than non-eligible women.But since mothers tend to use their fullentitlement, the higher entry rates are largelyconcentrated to the period after leave expiry,except in Sweden where entitled mothers havehigher entry rates also during the leaveperiod. This is probably a result of thegreater flexibility of the Swedish program. Inall countries, leave extensions delay thereturn to work among entitled mothers andreduce their excess entry rate. Moreover, theFinnish home-care allowance system is found toreduce employment entry. On the whole, thissuggests that very long leave entitlements andchild-minding benefit programs could havenegative consequences for women's career andearnings potentials and may preserve an unequaldivision of labour in the family.

Suggested Citation

  • Marit Rønsen & Marianne Sundström, 2002. "Family Policy and After-Birth Employment Among New Mothers – A Comparison of Finland, Norway and Sweden," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 18(2), pages 121-152, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:eurpop:v:18:y:2002:i:2:d:10.1023_a:1015532305179
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1015532305179
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Esther Yin-Nei Cho, 2017. "Child Benefit Portfolios Across OECD Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 132(3), pages 1099-1115, July.
    2. Jessica Nisén & Pekka Martikainen & Mikko Myrskylä & Karri Silventoinen, 2018. "Education, Other Socioeconomic Characteristics Across the Life Course, and Fertility Among Finnish Men," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 34(3), pages 337-366, August.
    3. Jessica Nisén & Maarten J. Bijlsma & Pekka Martikainen & Ben Wilson & Mikko Myrskylä, 2019. "The gendered impacts of delayed parenthood on educational and labor market outcomes: a dynamic analysis of population-level effects over young adulthood," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2019-017, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    4. Magdalena M. Muszynska, 2004. "Employment after childbearing: a comparative study of Italy and Norway," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2004-030, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    5. Maria Hanratty & Eileen Trzcinski, 2009. "Who benefits from paid family leave? Impact of expansions in Canadian paid family leave on maternal employment and transfer income," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 22(3), pages 693-711, July.
    6. Ross Guest & Nick Parr, 2013. "Family policy and couples’ labour supply: an empirical assessment," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 26(4), pages 1631-1660, October.
    7. Petersen, Trond & Penner, Andrew & Høgnes, Geir, 2012. "From Motherhood Penalties to Husband Premia: The New Challenge for Gender Equality and Family Policy, Lessons from Norway," Institute for Research on Labor and Employment, Working Paper Series qt60p7c2pg, Institute of Industrial Relations, UC Berkeley.
    8. Alicia Adsera, 2011. "Where Are the Babies? Labor Market Conditions and Fertility in Europe [Où sont les bébés ? Conditions du marché du travail et fécondité en Europe]," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 1-32, February.
    9. Tito Boeri & Jan van Ours, 2013. "The Economics of Imperfect Labor Markets: Second Edition," Economics Books, Princeton University Press, edition 1, number 10142.

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