Understanding gender inequalities in parenthood
The transition to parenthood marks a point where gender inequalities in the labour market – and within couples – become more pronounced. Across the world, the birth of a child often decreases a woman’s employment prospects, while men tend to be unaffected. “In different-sex couples, studies suggest that comparative advantages within the household and the labour market are inevitably linked to gender,” explains GENPARENT project coordinator Marie Evertsson from Stockholm University in Sweden. “This can make it difficult to separate financially rational decision-making from gender norms and expectations.”
Parenthood within same-sex couples
The GENPARENT project, which was funded by the European Research Council, focused on parenthood within same-sex couples. The goal was to study how parents divide paid work and care when gender disparities can be ruled out as determining their division. The research was based on analyses of large-scale population register data across the Nordic countries and the Netherlands, as well as interviews with lesbian couples expecting (and having) a baby in the Netherlands and Sweden. “Results showed that within lesbian couples, both women often want to carry a child at some point,” says Evertsson. “In addition, both lesbian and gay male couples share parental leave more equally than different-sex couples do.” Although the project’s analyses of male couples were based on a smaller population with higher incomes and better labour market positions than most men, they suggest that male couples share the care of the child most equally. An important reason for this seems to be the absence of physiological factors (such as breastfeeding) that tie one parent closer to the child.
Earnings trajectories and parenthood
The project also compared couples’ earnings trajectories in the Nordic countries. “Same-sex couples have fairly equal earnings five years after a first birth in Denmark, Norway and Sweden,” adds Evertsson. “In Finland however, we found that both different-sex and same-sex couples have a considerable earnings gap five years after their first birth.” “The Finnish cash-for-care policy seems to be a significant factor here, contributing to within-couple inequalities in both groups of couples,” notes Evertsson. The project also found a similar division of leave among adoptive and biological different-sex parents, with the mother taking the first and longest leave in both groups. This suggests that gender norms and ideals are strong mechanisms that spur inequalities in paid work and care in different-sex couples. Finally, analyses also found that individuals who have lived with both a man and a woman work more hours when they live with a woman rather than a man. “This aligns with our hypothesis that a partner’s gender influences labour market behaviour,” says Evertsson.
Understanding the gendered transition to parenthood
Evertsson believes that the GENPARENT project has achieved a better understanding of the mechanisms that produce inequalities in different-sex couples transitioning to parenthood. “We were also able to fill a gap in research by focusing on family models that are becoming more common, yet still seldom included in large-scale, quantitative studies of earnings inequalities,” she adds. “Our results challenge traditional theories on couples’ division of work and care being determined by financial concerns. Instead, they point to the importance of gender disparities and norms when it comes to understanding the gendered transition to parenthood.”
Keywords
GENPARENT, gender, parent, parenthood, same-sex, breastfeeding, earnings
