Periodic Reporting for period 4 - GENPARENT (Revealing Sources of Gendered Parenthood: A multi-method comparative study of the transition to parenthood in same-sex and different-sex couples)
Période du rapport: 2023-02-01 au 2024-07-31
The GENPARENT project was spurred by a need for an innovative and inclusive approach to gender, families and work. Income and occupational prestige correlates with gender, making it difficult to separate financially rational decision making from gender norms and expectations when it comes to how parents divide paid work and care.
The GENPARENT project applies an inclusive, internationally comparative approach to families in order to reveal the complex processes that result in a gendered division of work and its career related consequences, by including same-sex and adoptive parents. In female same-sex couples, gender can be ruled out as a determinant of the division of care and paid work when focusing on those with a first child. In male same-sex couples with children, and adoptive different-sex couples, the physiological aspects (of birth-giving and breast-feeding) is netted out. This provides interesting contrasts to different-sex couples with biol. children.
The 3 sub-projects each contribute an important piece of the puzzle.
GENPARENT NORTH is based on longitudinal analyses of register data for the full population of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. This enables studies of the process of becoming parents and its income and work-related consequences. GENPAREN REGIME combines a comparison of the social policy and legal frameworks that govern the transition to parenthood in different-sex and same-sex couples in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands and the US. This enables a focus on legal rights, family policies and societal context for parenthood. GENPARENT VOICE is based on in-depth interviews with female same-sex couples and reveals the reasoning, plans and expectations that underlie the decision regarding how to divide the child care and paid work once the child arrives, focusing on Sweden and the Netherlands.
The GENPARENT project applies an inclusive, internationally comparative approach to families in order to reveal the complex processes that result in a gendered division of work and its career related consequences, by including same-sex and adoptive parents. In female same-sex couples, gender can be ruled out as a determinant of the division of care and paid work when focusing on those with a first child. In male same-sex couples with children, and adoptive different-sex couples, the physiological aspects (of birth-giving and breast-feeding) is netted out. This provides interesting contrasts to different-sex couples with biol. children.
The 3 sub-projects each contribute an important piece of the puzzle.
GENPARENT NORTH is based on longitudinal analyses of register data for the full population of Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Norway. This enables studies of the process of becoming parents and its income and work-related consequences. GENPAREN REGIME combines a comparison of the social policy and legal frameworks that govern the transition to parenthood in different-sex and same-sex couples in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands and the US. This enables a focus on legal rights, family policies and societal context for parenthood. GENPARENT VOICE is based on in-depth interviews with female same-sex couples and reveals the reasoning, plans and expectations that underlie the decision regarding how to divide the child care and paid work once the child arrives, focusing on Sweden and the Netherlands.
GENPARENT North: Our research shows that gender norms take a strong toll on different-sex couples, whereas same-sex couples are better able to escape heteronormative pressures. Contributing to this is the study by Moberg & Van der Vleuten (2022), comparing parental leave use in biological different-sex couples to couples where the child was adopted. Adoptive parents should be better able to share the leave, yet the difference in the mothers leave use between the two groups is small. One potential reason could be that different-sex couples benefit financially from dividing care and paid work unequally. Yet, this does not seem to be the case. Comparing different-sex and same-sex couples’ household income in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden, Van der Vleuten, Evertsson & Moberg (2023) find no differences in household income (including or excluding social transfers) between the two types of couples. Hence, results suggest no financial benefits to specialization (in paid work vs care).
Adding to this, Evertsson, Moberg & van der Vleuten follows different-sex and female same-sex couples from a few years before the birth of the child to 5 years after in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Results show that the family leave policy frameworks have significant implications for the earnings trajectories of the parents and that Finland’s institutional context stimulates unequal divisions of paid work and care.
GENPARENT Regime: Evertsson, Jaspers & Moberg (2020), introduce the concept of parentalization, defined as the ability to become parents and be recognized as such, legally and via social policies. The concept is applied in analysis of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, presenting trends in the number of children zero years of age in same-sex couples in the period from the early 1990s until 2018. In a study of the Netherlands, Jaspers, Mazrekaj & Machado (2024) show that the partner’s gender matter for the hours worked. Focusing on individuals who have lived with both a male and a female partner, they find that both men and women work more when partnered with a female compared to a male partner.
A finding when initializing the GENPARENT project was that (especially female) same-sex couples in the US tended to be have lower income and lower socio-economic status compared to different-sex couples. This stood in contrast to the findings for Sweden and the Netherlands where female couples were higher educated/higher income than women in different-sex couples. To try to understand the differences, Machado, Evertsson & Jaspers, provide comparable estimates of socioeconomic characteristics of different-sex, female same-sex, and male same-sex couples with and without children (joint or step-children only) in the Netherlands, Sweden and the US. Income differences between female same-sex couples with a joint child and those with stepchildren are larger in the US, suggesting stronger selection into joint parenthood compared to Sweden and the Netherlands.
GENPARENT Voice: Based on interviews with lesbian couples expecting a baby, our studies in Sweden and the Netherlands suggests that it is common that both partners want to carry a child and that age often is important in determining who will carry first when couples plan to have two children (Eriksson Kirsch & Evertsson 2023; Geerts & Evertsson 2023). In line with findings from quantitative research (Evertsson & Boye 2018), financial arguments or negotiations including relative resources in income or joint household income did not seem important in the data collected. Follow-up interviews with couples in Sweden when children are two to three years of age show that the mothers often share the care of the child equally and that strong norms regarding good mothering and intensive parenting to some extent result in unreachable demands.
Adding to this, Evertsson, Moberg & van der Vleuten follows different-sex and female same-sex couples from a few years before the birth of the child to 5 years after in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Results show that the family leave policy frameworks have significant implications for the earnings trajectories of the parents and that Finland’s institutional context stimulates unequal divisions of paid work and care.
GENPARENT Regime: Evertsson, Jaspers & Moberg (2020), introduce the concept of parentalization, defined as the ability to become parents and be recognized as such, legally and via social policies. The concept is applied in analysis of Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands, presenting trends in the number of children zero years of age in same-sex couples in the period from the early 1990s until 2018. In a study of the Netherlands, Jaspers, Mazrekaj & Machado (2024) show that the partner’s gender matter for the hours worked. Focusing on individuals who have lived with both a male and a female partner, they find that both men and women work more when partnered with a female compared to a male partner.
A finding when initializing the GENPARENT project was that (especially female) same-sex couples in the US tended to be have lower income and lower socio-economic status compared to different-sex couples. This stood in contrast to the findings for Sweden and the Netherlands where female couples were higher educated/higher income than women in different-sex couples. To try to understand the differences, Machado, Evertsson & Jaspers, provide comparable estimates of socioeconomic characteristics of different-sex, female same-sex, and male same-sex couples with and without children (joint or step-children only) in the Netherlands, Sweden and the US. Income differences between female same-sex couples with a joint child and those with stepchildren are larger in the US, suggesting stronger selection into joint parenthood compared to Sweden and the Netherlands.
GENPARENT Voice: Based on interviews with lesbian couples expecting a baby, our studies in Sweden and the Netherlands suggests that it is common that both partners want to carry a child and that age often is important in determining who will carry first when couples plan to have two children (Eriksson Kirsch & Evertsson 2023; Geerts & Evertsson 2023). In line with findings from quantitative research (Evertsson & Boye 2018), financial arguments or negotiations including relative resources in income or joint household income did not seem important in the data collected. Follow-up interviews with couples in Sweden when children are two to three years of age show that the mothers often share the care of the child equally and that strong norms regarding good mothering and intensive parenting to some extent result in unreachable demands.
The GENPARENT project is the first to apply a longitudinal, multi-methodological approach to the transition to parenthood in a variety of couples, going beyond the dominant heterosexual paradigm. Our summary of the main results above show evidence of the strength of projects like these, combining in-depth interviews with couples expecting and having a baby with longitudinal analyses of large-scale data. Examples of findings beyond the state of the art are the Dutch study by Jaspers, Mazrekaj & Machado (2024), showing that both women and men work more hours when they live with a woman compared to a man, and the study finding similar leave divisions among different-sex biological and adoptive parents, pointing to the importance of gender norms (Moberg & Van der Vleuten 2023).
The GENPARENT project is also the first to study couples’ transition to parenthood in a country comparative context, enabling a better understanding of the importance of family policies and gender culture when it comes to the earnings-related consequences of parenthood (e.g. Van der Vleuten, Evertsson & Moberg 2023). Our research is of relevance to policy makers and politicians who want to facilitate a more gender equal transition to parenthood.
Finally, our study of male couples’ earnings trajectories during the transition to parenthood and their negotiations regarding leave shows that male couples becoming parents in Sweden are a privileged but very committed group of fathers who share paid work and care the more equally than other couples (Evertsson & Malmquist 2022). The combination of interview and quantitative data was key here.
The GENPARENT project is also the first to study couples’ transition to parenthood in a country comparative context, enabling a better understanding of the importance of family policies and gender culture when it comes to the earnings-related consequences of parenthood (e.g. Van der Vleuten, Evertsson & Moberg 2023). Our research is of relevance to policy makers and politicians who want to facilitate a more gender equal transition to parenthood.
Finally, our study of male couples’ earnings trajectories during the transition to parenthood and their negotiations regarding leave shows that male couples becoming parents in Sweden are a privileged but very committed group of fathers who share paid work and care the more equally than other couples (Evertsson & Malmquist 2022). The combination of interview and quantitative data was key here.