22(38)
6
Discussion
This study focuses on the effects of reforms to encourage an equal division
of leave in parental leave insurance. Since the introduction of parental
leave in Sweden various strategies have been used to reach this goal. In
1995, one month was reserved for each parent, implying that the month
was forfeited if not used by the same parent. The reservation of one month
was followed by another month in 2002. In 2008, a gender equality bonus
was introduced, meaning that tax credits were given to parents if both used
more than their reserved months.
The outcomes of these reforms are evaluated and compared. We
investigate fathers’ and mothers’ leave use during the first 20 months after
the introduction of each reform. Although it should be remembered that
parental leave can be used until the child is eight years old and fathers
often use a larger proportion of leave later on in the child’s life, the vast
majority of parental leave days are used when the child is 20 months old.
The study thus focuses on short-term effects and does not rule out effects
that appear later on in the child’s life. It also focuses on short-term effects
in the sense that we analyze only the first parents to meet the new reform
and therefore miss gradual changes in behavior initiated by the reform.
Nevertheless, the results of this study do tell us something about how
different reforms operate and affect parents’ patterns of parental leave use.
The results show that the first reserved month clearly has most effect on
both fathers’ and mothers’ use. Mothers’ use of parental leave days
decreased by 27 days whereas fathers’ days increased by eight days. Also,
the proportion of fathers using any leave at all increased from 40 to 69
percent. The reason that fathers’ leave days do not increase as much as
mothers’ days decrease is probably that fathers to a greater extent take
their leave later in their children’s life. We find that the propensity among
fathers to use around one month of leave increases sharply, whereas the
propensity to use longer leave is mainly unaffected.
The second reserved month has a more moderate effect, increasing fathers’
days from 37 to 43 days and mothers’ days from 268 to 275 days.
Remember that the leave was extended by 30 days at the same time and
this extension could also be used by mothers. Here we find that the
dominant pattern is that fathers’ use of around two months increases,
whereas other lengths of leave are less affected.
We do not find any effects on mean used days from the introduction of the
gender equality bonus. The logit models also indicate that the bonus has so
far not shifted the usage among fathers.
When we compare the effects of the three reforms it seems that the
efficacy of the first reform, the first reserved month, is higher than the two
other reforms, and that the second reserved month clearly has more
impact than the gender equality bonus. It is not possible to conclude that
the first month therefore is a reform that is superior to the other two, as
they can be seen as stepping-stones towards the same goal. They all
promote the social value of children, especially children of working parents,
and they aim at gender-neutral or gender-equal parenthood. The reserved
months, entitling days and not just economic benefits may have a stronger
impact on the negotiations with both the other parent and the employer,
