Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/20285 
Year of Publication: 
2004
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 1050
Publisher: 
Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), Bonn
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.
Subjects: 
family-friendly policy
maternal leave
paternal leave
childcare
JEL: 
J22
J1
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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