One purpose of our study was to investigate if equality in work time and parental leave in a relationship affect the time that parents spend with their children. Our first hypothesis was that increased equality in work time and parental leave leads to a reduction of the parents’ total time with their children, ie the children spend more hours in pre-school and begin pre-school earlier. In order to test our hypothesis, we investigated the relationship between the woman’s and the man’s work time and parental leave and the time that the children spend in pre-school as well as at what age they began pre-school by using two surveys. Our study showed a significant coherence between both working women’s work time and the children’s time in pre-school as well as women’s parental leave and the children’s age at start in pre-school. We did not find any corresponding coherence for men. This indicates that it is the women’s work situation which, to a large degree, determines the children’s time in pre-school and at what age they start pre-school. Hence, increased equality in work life, meaning that women work more, probably has the consequence that the children spend more time in pre-school and also start pre-school earlier. The second purpose of our study was to investigate parents’ own experience of the equality in their relationship, compared to their actual equality regarding work time, parental leave, housekeeping, time with their children and own time. Our second hypothesis was that couples feel much more equal than their actual division of work time, parental leave, housekeeping, time with the children and own time indicates. We found some coherence between experienced equality and especially division of work time and housekeeping. Our study showed, however, that most couples feel that they have equality, despite an unequal division of work time and parental leave. / Ett syfte med vår studie var att undersöka huruvida jämställdhet i arbetstid och föräldraledighet i ett parförhållande påverkar den tid föräldrar tillbringar med sina barn. Vår första hypotes var att ökad jämställdhet i arbetstid och föräldraledighet leder till att föräldrars totala tid med barnen minskar, dvs. att barnen tillbringar fler timmar i förskolan och inskolas tidigare. För att testa denna hypotes undersökte vi, med hjälp av två enkätstudier, sambanden mellan kvinnans och mannens arbetstid och föräldraledighet, och den tid som barnen tillbringar i förskolan samt vid vilken ålder de skolades in i förskolan. Våra studier visade ett signifikant samband mellan såväl yrkesarbetande kvinnors arbetstid och barnens antal timmar i förskolan som mellan kvinnors föräldraledighet och barnens ålder vid förskolestart. Motsvarande samband för männen saknades. Detta indikerar således att det är kvinnornas arbetssituation som till betydande del avgör barnens närvarotid i och ålder vid start i förskolan. Ökad jämställdhet i arbetslivet, innebärande att kvinnor arbetar mer, leder sannolikt till att barnen tillbringar mer tid i förskolan och inskolas tidigare. Ett andra syfte med vår studie var att undersöka föräldrars egen upplevelse av jämställdhet i sin parrelation, i förhållande till deras jämställdhet i arbetstid, föräldraledighet, fördelning av hemarbete, tid med barnen och egen tid. Vår andra hypotes var att par upplever sig som betydligt mer jämställda än vad fördelning av arbete, föräldraledighet, hemarbete, tid med barnen och egen tid indikerar. Vi fann i vår studie att det finns ett visst samband mellan upplevd jämställdhet och framförallt fördelning av arbetstid och hemarbete. De flesta par upplever sig dock som jämställda, trots en relativt ojämlik fördelning av arbetstid och föräldraledighet.

The paper analyses Gender Equality, Gender Equity and policies of combating inequality at workplace to make the society equal as a case study of Sweden. The aim of paper is see the gender equality, gender equity, discrimination against women at workplace and to describe the policies combating inequality in the welfare state of Sweden. This work highlights the gender equality in terms of institutionalizing gender equality, gender equity, gender and pay gap, parental leave, gender and the pension system and sexual behavior directed towards women and policies combating inequality to bring equality in society. For my research I used the secondary data the fact sheets, scientific literature, statistics from eurostate of Sweden and case studies about Swedish society and the theoretical explanation to explain the phenomena. To achieve my aim I used the combination of both qualitative and quantitative methods of research. I showed the empirical evidences of these phenomena from the Swedish society and theoretical analysis about equality and equity of gender in different wakes of life. I found an interesting conclusion that there are good policies and legislation to combat inequality to bring society but there are no policies to change the perception of society about male and female role.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of California, San Diego, 2004. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 263-283).

Problemdiskussion: Allt fler arbetar för en mer jämställd arbetsplats, på EY har antalet kvinnliga delägare ökat från 13 procent till 16 procent, vilket är ett resultat av ett aktivt jämställdhetsarbete som började för fem år sedan. Även på Deloitte har andelen kvinnliga delägare ökat från 17 procent till 20 procent. Avsaknaden av kompetenta kvinnor sägs inte vara en förklaring till varför det är få kvinnliga delägare, en förklaring som ofta används är att rekrytering till de högre positionerna ofta sammanfaller med tidpunkten då många skaffar barn. Andra menar att glastaket kan vara en förklaring till den ojämna fördelningen. Syfte: Syftet är att undersöka vilka faktorer som påverkar kvinnors möjlighet att bli delägare. Även se om dessa faktorer kan vara förklaringar till varför det är få kvinnliga delägare inom redovisning- och revisionsbranschen. Metod: Empirin i studien består av intervjuer med tio respondenter. Empirin har analyserats mot den teoretiska referensramen som består av teorier om glastaket, föräldraledighet och organisatoriska faktorer. Analys och slutsats: De faktorer som har identifierats i studien är att föräldraledigheten har en negativ påverkan och stödet från chefen har positiv påverkan på möjligheten att bli delägare. Dock visade studien att viljan hos de kvinnliga respondenterna att bli delägare är låg. Respondenternas upplevelser gällande glastaket varierade och därför kunde ingen klar slutsats dras om glastakets existens. / Background: More and more people are working to get a more equal workplace. The numbers of female partners has increased from 13 percent to 16 percent at EY, which are the results of an active equality work that began five years ago. While at Deloitte the proportion of female partners has increased from 17 percent to 20 percent. The problem is not considered that there is an absence of competent women, it is said to be that recruitment to the higher positions often coincides with the time when many women have children. Others mean that the glass ceiling may be an explanation for the uneven distribution. Purpose: The purpose is to examine what factors affect women’s opportunity to become partners. Also see if these factors may explain why there are few female partners in the accounting and auditing industry. Method: The empirical study consists of interviews with ten respondents. The empirical data were then analyzed against the theoretical framework that consists of theories about the glass ceiling, parental leave and organizational factors. Analysis and conclusion: The factors that have been identified in this study is that parental leave has a negative impact and the support of the manager has a positive impact on the possibility to become a partner. However, the study also showed that the will of the female respondents to become partners is low. The respondents' experiences varied regarding the glass ceiling and because of that, a clear conclusion could not be drawn about the glass ceiling's existence.

The main research question in this thesis is do immigrant new mothers use maternity and parental leave benefit differently from native new mothers. I use Employment Insurance Coverage Survey micro data from 2000 to 2009 and fixed effect models to investigate the different weeks taken by new mothers and the different amount of benefits received during the leave period between immigrant new mothers and native new mothers. The results in my thesis show that immigrant new mothers received lower amount of benefit during the leave than native new mothers. There are no significant differences by the duration of the leave have taken between immigrant and native new mothers. I also find that the higher education a new mother received before they were pregnant, the higher benefit amount they could receive.

Syftet med denna studie var att undersöka eventuella samband mellan inkomstfördelning samt utbildning och attityd gentemot delad föräldraledighet. Vidare blev denna problemformulering vital, då den även befrämjade möjligheten att titta på hur attityden gentemot delad föräldraledighet inverkar på synen av könsroller i ett hushåll. Undersökningen bygger på en enkät kring familjeliv och arbete, som har utförts av Sociologiska Institutionen vid Umeå universitet, och sammanförts av ISSP 2012 (International Social Survey Program). Studien grundar sig i en univariat analys som beskriver variablernas frekvensfördelningar, och därefter testas eventuella samband genom bivariat och multivariat analys. Det teoretiska ramverket där begrepp såsom könsroller, resurser och kapital inbegrips, blir på senare hand studiens analytiska verktyg. Resultatet påvisar att det föreligger ett positivt samband mellan inkomstfördelning, utbildning och attityd gentemot delad föräldraledighet. Det visar sig att man i hushåll där mannen tjänar mer, förhåller sig traditionellt på så sätt att man anser att föräldraledigheten endast bör tas ut av kvinnan. Vidare påvisar resultat att de med hög utbildning, i jämförelse med de som endast innehar gymnasial alternativt lägre utbildning, anser att föräldraledigheten bör delas upp jämlikt. Detta påvisar även ytterligare ett positivt samband i hur attityden gentemot delad föräldraledighet återspeglar synen på könsroller och därmed synen på jämställdhet. En traditionell inställning gentemot delad föräldraledighet återspeglar en syn på hur man anser att kvinnan bör ta hand om barn, och mannen försörja familjen.

There has been increasingly interest in parental leave policies as instruments for the implementation of gender equality in society. This review essay explores the link between parental leave policies and the gender division of labour - referring to both paid employment and unpaid family work. Against this backdrop the essay systematically reviews evidence from quantitative empirical research on the effects of parental leave policies on mothers' employment and fathers' involvement in family work. The article suggests that there are several aspects of parental leave that seem to be especially relevant for the gender division of labour, such as the duration of leave, the provision of payments, and an individual entitlement of non-transferable leave rights. In a concluding section the article summarizes the results, discusses doubts and questions raised by the material and identifies promising areas of future research that are crucial for a better understanding of the effects of parental leave on the gender division of labour. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers / Institut für Sozialpolitik

There has been increasingly interest in parental leave policies as instruments for the implementation of gender equality in society. This review essay explores the link between parental leave policies and the gender division of labour - referring to both paid employment and unpaid family work. Against this backdrop the essay systematically reviews evidence from quantitative empirical research on the effects of parental leave policies on mothers' employment and fathers' involvement in family work. The article suggests that there are several aspects of parental leave that seem to be especially relevant for the gender division of labour, such as the duration of leave, the provision of payments, and an individual entitlement of non-transferable leave rights. In a concluding section the article summarizes the results, discusses doubts and questions raised by the material and identifies promising areas of future research that are crucial for a better understanding of the effects of parental leave on the gender division of labour. (author's abstract) / Series: Working Papers / Institut für Sozialpolitik

Father involvement benefits children, mothers, and themselves in a number of ways. Swedish legislation and Swedish society have promoted father involvement. At the same time, the Swedish child health field has also unequivocally states that both parents should feel welcomed and supported within that sphere. Despite these statements and policies, fathers feel neglected and invisible within and throughout the Swedish child health field, which includes prenatal clinics, birth and labor wards, postnatal clinics, child health centers, and parent support programs. Less is known however about the factors that influence father involvement in the child health centers, especially from the child health nurses’ perspective and the influence of the built environment. Additionally, parent support programs are another way through which parents receive support regarding their young child’s mental health, but very little research has focused on why fathers participate or the thoughts parents have regarding their participation, especially within a Swedish context. The overall aim of this dissertation was to better understand some of the barriers fathers have when trying to participate in the female-dominated world of the Swedish child health field, especially during the child’s preschool years. In Study I, 17 child health nurses were interviewed regarding their thoughts on fathers, and in Study II, 31 child health centers’ built environments were assessed to see how inclusive they were of fathers. In Study III, a parent support program was assessed to see if mothers and fathers had different background characteristics for participating, and Study IV sought to understand the extent to which parents appreciated and used the information from the program. These studies showed that child health nurses welcomed fathers, but did not actively invite them to participate. In addition, 75% of the child health centers did not have representations of fathers, but most child health centers had representations of mothers and/or children. Paternal behaviors positively changed if they were in an environment with either explicit paternal representations or only child representations. Mothers participated in the parent support program for several reasons, including if their child had perceived behavior problems, while fathers participated if they were stressed and perceived their child as having emotional problems. Parents believed the information they learned in the parent support program was valuable, and they continued using some strategies a year after the intervention. Swedish family policies can affect parental involvement within the child health field, but the child health field is less inclusive of fathers than mothers, and it fails to meet the needs of fathers, which can then, in turn, negatively affect maternal, paternal, and child outcomes. Therefore, the Swedish child health field needs to continue working on improving their practices of treating both parents equally.

In Canada, new parents have access to maternity and parental leave following the birth or adoption of a child. Parental leave, which follows maternity leave, entitles new parents to 35 weeks of leave. Although both parents have access to parental leave, only a small percentage of fathers utilize it, despite the benefits for both fathers and their children. This gendered usage perpetuates the belief that family responsibilities are mothers’ responsibilities. This multi-level research study explored the organizational, manager, and employee characteristics that influence support for and use of parental leave by male employees. In 2012, seven large, Manitoba employers were recruited for participation and the sample included 550 male employees and 354 female and male managers. Data were collected using a structured interview at the organizational level and two self-administered questionnaires for managers and male employees. The hypotheses were tested using OLS regression and hierarchical logistic regression. Results indicated strong managerial support for parental leave use by men, although female managers were significantly more supportive than male managers. The strongest influence on support for parental leave use for both employees and managers was the personal use of parental leave. Male employees who perceived organizational family support and the view that men could take leave without negative career impact reported higher levels of perceived supervisory family support. Twenty-five percent of the sample had used parental leave, but those who had access to an Employment Insurance top up from their employer reported the highest leave use and the longest leave duration. Parental leave was extended from 10 to 35 weeks in 2000; the results indicate that fathers who had access to 10 weeks of parental leave were 80 percent less likely to report leave use, compared to those with access to 35 weeks of leave. Therefore, to increase fathers’ use of parental leave, organizations are encouraged to increase awareness and explicit support for parental leave, as well as offer a top up. To increase fathers’ leave use, future parental leave policy development should focus on both increasing wage replacement and the addition of a non-transferable leave for fathers, similar to that offered in Quebec.