Abstract
Progress towards gender equality involves changes in the traditional parental division – female caring and male breadwinning. One aspect is increased parental leave for fathers, which may benefit the health of mothers, children, and fathers themselves. We examined how social and health characteristics (2002) were associated with paternity leave in excess of the ‘father quota’ of 60 days (2003–2006) in the Stockholm Public Health Cohort. Generally, fathers with stable social position, fit lifestyles, and good health had increased chances of paternity leave uptake. Our findings may contribute to identifying target groups for parental leave strategies among fathers; they indicate also that research on gender equality and public health must carefully address the problems of confounding and health-related selection.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Connell, R.W. (2002) Gender. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Harding, S. (1986) The Science Question in Feminism. London: Cornell University Press.
Okin Moller, S. (1989) Justice, Gender and the Family. New York: Basic Books.
United Nations Development Programme. (2007) Human Development Report 2007/2008. In: K. Watkins (ed.) Fighting Climate Change: Human Solidarity in a Divided World. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
World Health Organization. (2007) Fatherhood and Health Outcomes in Europe, Copenhagen, Denmark: Regional office for Europe, http://www.euro.who.int/document/e91129.pdf, accessed 10 March 2009.
Kiss, E. (1998) Justice. In: A.M. Jaggar and A.M. Young (eds.) A Companion to Feminist Philosophy. Great Britain: Blackwell Publishers.
Moss, P. and Wall, K. (2007) International review of leave policies and related research. Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. Employment relations research series no. 80, London: Crown, http://www.berr.gov.uk/files/file40677.pdf, accessed 14 April 2009.
Ferrarini, T. (2003) Parental Leave Institutions in Eighteen Post-war Welfare States. Dissertation, Swedish Institute for Social Research, Stockholm University.
National Social Insurance Board. (2009) Parental leave. Number of insured persons who have received compensation, number of children and number of net days, by age in 2008, http://statistik.forsakringskassan.se/rfvexcel/bof/off_stat/FP_Tab_1_5_2008.xls, accessed 2 September 2009.
Hammarström, A., Härenstam, A. and Östlin, P. (2001) Gender and health: Concepts and explanatory models. In: P. Östlin, M. Danielsson, A. Diderichsen, A. Härenstam and G. Lindberg (eds.) Gender Inequalities in Health: A Swedish Perspective. Boston, MA: Harvard University Press.
Månsdotter, A., Lindholm, L., Lundberg, L., Öhman, A. and Winkvist, A. (2006) Parental share in public and domestic spheres – A population study on gender equality, death and sickness. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health 60: 616–620.
Pruett, K. (1988) Father's influence on the development of infant's relationships. Acta Paedriatica Scandinavia 77 (344): 43–52.
Sarkadi, A., Kristiansson, R. and Bremberg, S. (2004) Fäders betydelse för barns och ungdomars hälsa: en systematisk översikt av longitudinella studier. [The Significance of the Father for the Health of Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Overview of Longitudinal Studies]. Stockholm: Swedish National Institute of Public Health. Report no. 17.
Ministry of Health and Social Affairs. (2005) Reformerad föräldraförsäkring – kärlek, omvårdnad, trygghet, [Reformed Parental Insurance – Love, Care, Security] Stockholm, Sweden: SOU, p. 73.
Månsdotter, A., Lindholm, L. and Winkvist, A. (2007) Paternity leave in Sweden – Costs, savings and health gains. Health Policy 82: 102–115.
Månsdotter, A., Backhans, M. and Hallqvist, J. (2008) The relationship between a less gender-stereotypical parenthood and alcohol-related care and death: A registry study of Swedish mothers and fathers. BMC Public Health 8: 312.
Backhans, M., Lundberg, M. and Månsdotter, A. (2007) Does increased gender equality lead to convergence of health outcomes? A study of Swedish municipalities. Social Science & Medicine 64 (9): 1892–1903.
Thoits, P.A. (1983) Multiple identities and psychological well-being. American Sociological Review 48: 174–187.
Marsiglio, W. (1995) Fatherhood – Contemporary Theory, Research and Social Policy. London: Sage.
Connell, R.W. (1995) Masculinities. California: University of California Press.
Plantin, L. (2001) Mäns föräldraskap. Om mäns upplevelser och erfarenheter av faderskapet. [Men's parenthood. On men's perceptions and experiences of fatherhood]. Dissertation, Göteborg University.
Bekkengen, L. (2002) Man får välja. Om föräldraskap och föräldraledighet i arbetsliv och familjeliv. [You may choose. On parenthood and parental leave in working life and family life]. Dissertation, Departments of Economics and Working Life Science, Karlstad University.
Plantin, L., Månsson, S.A. and Kearney, J. (2003) Talking and doing fatherhood. On fatherhood and masculinity in Sweden and Britain. Fathering 1: 3–26.
Sundström, M. and Duvander, A. (2003) Gender division of childcare and the sharing of parental leave among new parents in Sweden. European Sociological Review 18 (4): 433–447.
Hwang, P. and Haas, L. (2007) Gender and organizational culture: Correlates of companies’ responsiveness to fathers in Sweden. Gender & Society 21 (1): 52–79.
Brandt, B. and Kvande, E. (2003) Fleksible fedre: maskulinitet, arbeid, velferdsstat., [Flexible Fathers: Masculinity, Work, and the Welfare State] Oslo, Norway: Universitetsforlaget, pp. 219–223.
Statistics Sweden. (2009) Longidudinell integrationsdatabas för sjukförsäkrings- och arbetsmarknadsstudier (LISA) 1990–2007. [Integrated database for labour market research]. Labour and Education Statistics, Vol. 1, http://www.scb.se/statistik/_publikationer/AM9901_1990I07_BR_AM76BR0901.pdf.
Erikson, R. and Goldthorpe, J.H. (1992) The Constant Flux: A Study of Class Mobility in Industrial Societies. Oxford: University of Oxford.
National Social Insurance Board. (2009) Parental benefit, http://www.forsakringskassan.se/irj/go/km/docs/fk_publishing/Dokument/ Publikationer/Faktablad/Andra%20språk/Engelska/foraldrapenning_eng.pdf, accessed 12 October 2009.
Pindyck, R.S. and Rubinfeld, D.L. (2007) Microeconomics, 6th edn. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.
Acknowledgements
This study was supported by the Swedish Confederation for Professional Employees (Dnr 573/08), and by grants from the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (Dnr 2007–0091), and Swedish Research Council (Dnr 2007–2804).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
Having found that parental leave for fathers may benefit the health of mothers, children, and fathers themselves, the authors examined the association of social and health characteristics and paternity leave in Stockholm.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Månsdotter, A., Fredlund, P., Hallqvist, J. et al. Who takes paternity leave? A cohort study on prior social and health characteristics among fathers in Stockholm. J Public Health Pol 31, 324–341 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2010.24
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/jphp.2010.24