The Impact of Family-Friendly Policies in Denmark and Sweden on Mothers' Career Interruptions Due to Childbirth

36 Pages Posted: 8 Apr 2004

See all articles by Elina Pylkkänen

Elina Pylkkänen

Göteborg University; Ministry of Finance

Nina Smith

Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: March 2004

Abstract

We analyze the impact of family-friendly policies on women's career breaks due to childbirth in Denmark and Sweden. In both countries, the labour force attachment of mothers is high, and more than 90% of the women return to work after childbirth. Sweden and Denmark are culturally similar and share the same type of welfare state ideology, but differ remarkably in pursued family policies. The impact of family policy variables on the probability of returning to the labour market is estimated using a duration model approach. Our results show that economic incentives and leave periods of the fathers affect the behaviour of mothers in both countries. However, family policy instruments are found to have a much larger impact on Swedish mothers' behaviour compared to Danish women. We explain this finding by the fact that family-friendly policies in Sweden have focused much more on flexible leave schemes and on the shared responsibilities of the parents than in Denmark.

Keywords: family-friendly policy, maternal leave, paternal leave, childcare

JEL Classification: J1, J22

Suggested Citation

Pylkkanen, Elina and Smith, Nina, The Impact of Family-Friendly Policies in Denmark and Sweden on Mothers' Career Interruptions Due to Childbirth (March 2004). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=522282 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.522282

Elina Pylkkanen

Göteborg University ( email )

Viktoriagatan 30
Göteborg, 405 30
Sweden

Ministry of Finance ( email )

Drottningatan 21
Stockholm 10333, 103 33
Sweden

Nina Smith (Contact Author)

Aarhus University - Department of Economics and Business Economics ( email )

Universitetsparken
DK-8000 Aarhus C
Denmark
+45 8948 6413 (Phone)
+45 8615 5175 (Fax)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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