Stockholm, Single mothers are one of the most vulnerable groups in societies around the world. In Sweden, the number of women with these caring responsibilities has almost halved over the past two decades. What has caused this change? Are we seeing a dramatic change in the global trend of increasing separations and divorces?
No, union dissolutions in Sweden are still among the highest in the world. What we are witnessing is a change in the logistics of breakups. Sweden not only has a leading role in the divorce rate, but is also a world leader when it comes to splitting child custody 50:50. Almost half of children with separated parents now split their time equally between the two homes.
In our new study, published in the journal Social Forces, we wanted to discover to what extent this notable change in living conditions has changed the gender division of care work within the former couple. Our hypothesis is that the effect of such dissolution of the union can lead to greater gender equality than when children were to live only with their mothers.
Ultimately, the 50:50 residency requires parents to take on full responsibility for child care half the time, something few parents do as a couple. It could therefore push parents towards a more equal division of care work.
As a measure of care work, we examine one of the most persistent inequalities between women and men in high-income countries today: taking leave from paid work to care for a child. We use data from administrative records covering the entire population of Sweden, with measurements of each child's mother's and father's leave before and after divorce. Our results show that, in Sweden, divorce has led to an increase in proportion of days off that parents dedicate to work to care. We conclude that while divorces have been slowing down the gender revolution in Sweden for decades (where mothers traditionally took all responsibility), they are now accelerating it.
World leaders?
We are not trying to argue that divorce is a good thing. Instead, we believe that divorces help expose the joint household as a highly sexist environment. Opposite-sex couples in Sweden, and generally around the world, tend to fall into a manager-helper dynamic, in which the Mother takes on all the administrative and mental workload and only delegates specific tasks for the father to perform. It is a dynamic that over time seems inevitable and impossible to break.
But 50:50 living arrangements turn this type of dynamic on its head. Because it is no longer possible to assume these strongly gendered roles (the mother cannot plan her ex's home and the father cannot wait for this to happen), 50:50 living arrangements seem to show the way to a more equitable division of labor in terms of gender. in general.
The lesson is that men can and do take care of their children alone. If the Swedes can do it, the inability of other men cannot be inevitable. Swedish men are not biologically built differently than other men, so it appears that cultural stereotypes are ultimately to blame. The rise in divorce could change attitudes at a deeper level over time. The more we see men taking care of their children, the more normal it will seem. Bosses could stop making fun of fathers who take time off to stay home with their children, and mothers could find it easier to trust their partners to do more of the childcare and household chores.
The Swedish experience may indicate where other countries are headed. That said, Sweden is ahead in many ways. For example, thanks to a generous set of family policies, Swedish fathers now take three months off work as parental leave to stay home with their babies while the mother returns to work, providing a crucial opportunity to bond and Increase your confidence when it comes to childcare.
In several family-related changes, including an increase in divorces and greater involvement of fathers in child care, Sweden has been a forerunner of trends later seen throughout Europe and North America. Residence with the father after divorce seems to be another such development. Although other countries may not yet see the same reversal in the overall effect of divorce on care work, couples practicing 50:50 living arrangements in those countries may have already begun to experience a more equal division of care work. care after separation.
And this is good news, not only for women who suddenly proclaim that “for the first time… ex-husbands are doing their thing,” but also for men who no longer have to deal with the pain associated with feeling of losing his children. children after a separation. (The conversation) RUP
RUPRUP
No, union dissolutions in Sweden are still among the highest in the world. What we are witnessing is a change in the logistics of breakups. Sweden not only has a leading role in the divorce rate, but is also a world leader when it comes to splitting child custody 50:50. Almost half of children with separated parents now split their time equally between the two homes.
In our new study, published in the journal Social Forces, we wanted to discover to what extent this notable change in living conditions has changed the gender division of care work within the former couple. Our hypothesis is that the effect of such dissolution of the union can lead to greater gender equality than when children were to live only with their mothers.
Ultimately, the 50:50 residency requires parents to take on full responsibility for child care half the time, something few parents do as a couple. It could therefore push parents towards a more equal division of care work.
As a measure of care work, we examine one of the most persistent inequalities between women and men in high-income countries today: taking leave from paid work to care for a child. We use data from administrative records covering the entire population of Sweden, with measurements of each child's mother's and father's leave before and after divorce. Our results show that, in Sweden, divorce has led to an increase in proportion of days off that parents dedicate to work to care. We conclude that while divorces have been slowing down the gender revolution in Sweden for decades (where mothers traditionally took all responsibility), they are now accelerating it.
World leaders?
We are not trying to argue that divorce is a good thing. Instead, we believe that divorces help expose the joint household as a highly sexist environment. Opposite-sex couples in Sweden, and generally around the world, tend to fall into a manager-helper dynamic, in which the Mother takes on all the administrative and mental workload and only delegates specific tasks for the father to perform. It is a dynamic that over time seems inevitable and impossible to break.
But 50:50 living arrangements turn this type of dynamic on its head. Because it is no longer possible to assume these strongly gendered roles (the mother cannot plan her ex's home and the father cannot wait for this to happen), 50:50 living arrangements seem to show the way to a more equitable division of labor in terms of gender. in general.
The lesson is that men can and do take care of their children alone. If the Swedes can do it, the inability of other men cannot be inevitable. Swedish men are not biologically built differently than other men, so it appears that cultural stereotypes are ultimately to blame. The rise in divorce could change attitudes at a deeper level over time. The more we see men taking care of their children, the more normal it will seem. Bosses could stop making fun of fathers who take time off to stay home with their children, and mothers could find it easier to trust their partners to do more of the childcare and household chores.
The Swedish experience may indicate where other countries are headed. That said, Sweden is ahead in many ways. For example, thanks to a generous set of family policies, Swedish fathers now take three months off work as parental leave to stay home with their babies while the mother returns to work, providing a crucial opportunity to bond and Increase your confidence when it comes to childcare.
In several family-related changes, including an increase in divorces and greater involvement of fathers in child care, Sweden has been a forerunner of trends later seen throughout Europe and North America. Residence with the father after divorce seems to be another such development. Although other countries may not yet see the same reversal in the overall effect of divorce on care work, couples practicing 50:50 living arrangements in those countries may have already begun to experience a more equal division of care work. care after separation.
And this is good news, not only for women who suddenly proclaim that “for the first time… ex-husbands are doing their thing,” but also for men who no longer have to deal with the pain associated with feeling of losing his children. children after a separation. (The conversation) RUP
RUPRUP
