Copyright © eContent Management Pty Ltd. Journal of Family Studies (2014) 20(1): 19–27.

Changes in gender equality? Swedish fathers’ parental leave,

division of childcare and housework1

ANNA-LENA ALMQVIST PHD2 AND ANN-ZOFIE DUVANDER*

School of Health, Care and Social Welfare, Mälardalen University, Eskilstuna, Sweden;
*Department of Sociology, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden

Abstract: Sweden is well known for its family policy and this study explores whether fathers’ parental leave is related
to later division of childcare and housework. Two materials were used; a panel survey (2003, 2009) and an interview-
study (2008). Respondents in the survey had their first child between the waves and the interview-study focused on parents
of 2–3 year olds. The survey is analyzed by logistic regression and the interviews by grounded theory. The results indicate
that when fathers took long leave parents shared both household tasks and childcare more equally after the leave. Higher
expectations of sharing childcare is related to a higher share of divided childcare once becoming parents, although it seems
that some tasks are more often shared than others. When the father took long leave both parents mention that the child
relates to the father as much as the mother in everyday life.

Keywords: childcare, fathers, gender equality, housework, parental leave, Sweden

I n Sweden, the division of parental leave is one of

the most quoted indicators of gender equality.
The political goal of gender equality is closely con-
nected to family policy and a number of reforms
have aimed at increasing fathers’ uptake of paren-
tal leave. An equal division of leave is thought to
change not just the division of childcare but also
housework, and to have positive effects on gen-
der equality in the labor market, by strengthening
women’s position in relation to men’s (Swedish
Government, 2011). Indeed, it seems that the
parental leave system has been successful in bring-
ing fathers into the child’s early years. Since the
1970s fathers have taken an increasing share of
parental leave, with the current figure standing at
almost 25% (Swedish Social Insurance Agency,
2013). However, women still take the major share
of childcare and often work part-time during the
child’s preschool years. The division of parental
leave is often considered a private decision, and
there has been heated political debate regarding
the so called father’s quota, two non-transferable
months to each parent in the parental benefit
(Cedstrand, 2011). Is it then possible to relate the
increase in fathers’ leave to other aspects of gender
equality as well? These aspects may range between
women’s situation and position in the labor mar-
ket to division of household tasks in the family.
The overarching question is whether fathers’
length of parental leave is related to other aspects
of gender equality. More specifically, is fathers’
long parental leave associated with subsequent
gender equality in childcare and housework?
We focus on how the division of childcare and
housework is divided before, during and after
parental leave, as well as how the responsibility
for housework is perceived and divided. There are
obviously many dimensions to the relationship
between gender equality and parental leave and
this study will contribute with a more nuanced
and deeper understanding of the relationship
between the two, rather than give causal expla-
nations. To achieve an improved understanding
of the relationship we have combined survey
data with semi-structured interviews. The study
reflects the situation in Sweden but will have
implications for the general understanding of
how parental leave and gender equality is related.

1
SWEDISH PAID PARENTAL LEAVE
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the
Nordic Sociological Association’s Conference in Oslo,
Sweden stands out as a country with an excep-
Norway, 4–7 August 2011. tionally generous and gender egalitarian parental
2
Correspondence to: Anna-Lena Almqvist, e-mail: anna-lena. leave policy (Ray, Gornick, & Schmitt, 2010).
almqvist@mdh.se The introduction in 1974 of a parental leave

Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES 19

 Anna-Lena Almqvist and Ann-Zofie Duvander
that could be divided between the parents was
an important factor in changing Sweden from
a system of single-earner families to dual-earner
families, today often termed earner–carer fami-
lies (Gornick & Meyers, 2008). Other impor-
tant changes at the time were the individual
taxation and somewhat later a progressive expan-
sion of publicly financed daycare (Ferrarini &
Duvander, 2010). The leave length was origi-
nally 6 months, but was extended in stages to
today’s 16 months. The earnings-related benefit
was 90% of earlier earnings but is since the mid-
1990s 80%. Since 2002, benefits during 13 out
of the 16 months are earnings-related and the
rest is paid at a low flat rate. Since the mid-1990s
almost 9 out of 10 fathers use some part of the
leave and the share of parents who divide rela-
tively equally is increasing. In the 2010s, about
1/10 of parents share leave equally. Practically
all mothers use parental leave (Swedish Social
Insurance Agency, 2011).
In 1995, one non-transferable month was
introduced, often called the father’s quota, and
this reform dramatically increased the share of
fathers taking leave (Duvander & Johansson,
2012). An additional reserved month for each
parent was added in 2002. The leave period is
often prolonged by adding unpaid days and
many children start daycare when they are older
than 16 months (Swedish National Agency for
Education, 2013). This is possible because of the
generous flexibility applied to job-protected leave
related to parenting.
Policy development has focused on promot-
ing men’s use of leave with the intention of
encouraging men to take more responsibility for
their children, as well as freeing women’s time for
labor market work. The reserved months are the
most widely known policy reforms, but fathers’
leave has on many occasions been promoted, not
least through national as well as regional infor-
mation campaigns to encourage and emphasize
shared responsibility for children. Concrete
examples are extensive information through the
Swedish Social Insurance Agency and employ-
ers actively supporting fathers to use the parental
leave (Almqvist, Sandberg, & Dahlgren, 2011;
Klinth, 2008).
20 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014
PREVIOUS RESEARCH
Earlier Swedish studies found that the fathers who
use most leave lived in couples where both mother
and father are highly educated and have high income
(Haas, 1992; Sundström & Duvander, 2002). These
fathers more often are employed in the public sec-
tor, in female dominated work places and it is found
that the employer’s attitudes matter for the leave use
(Almqvist & Dahlgren, 2013; Bygren & Duvander,
2006; Haas, Allard, & Hwang, 2011). Furthermore,
fathers’ parental leave use have been related to later
increased father–child engagement (Brandth &
Gislason, 2011). For example, in a survey it was
found that men who reported taking parental leave
also reported more responsibility and more hours of
childcare, as well as higher satisfaction with child-
contact (Haas & Hwang, 2008). However, a short
parental leave may not be sufficient to alter a tra-
ditional pattern of sharing of childcare (Hosking,
Whitehouse, & Baxter, 2010; Miller, 2010; Vuori,
2009). While women become mothers, men still
in many cases choose how to practise their father-
hood, including choosing whether and when to take
parental leave (Bekkengen, 2002). However, more
recent Swedish qualitative research indicated chang-
ing attitudes toward shared responsibility for chil-
dren among fathers (Klinth, 2008).
Patterns are likely to change over time, and a
Swedish time-use study found that parenthood
affected fathers and mothers more equally in 2000
than in 1990 (Dribe & Stanfors, 2009). In addi-
tion to changes over time, differences within as well
as between countries are indicated. When compar-
ing housework and parental work French fathers
were more involved in housework, whereas the
contrary was found for Dutch fathers (Devreux,
2007). Hook’s (2006) extensive study found that
the policy context affects especially fathers’ unpaid
work (partly childcare) and fathers’ availability of
leave. A UK–Swedish interview-study indicated
that the discourse on men as ‘involved fathers’ is
less coherent and less established in UK than it is
in Sweden. The idea of fatherhood is shaped by
contextual factors like economic and policy devel-
opment. In Sweden the idea of being a ‘good’
father is clearly normative and it is not really pos-
sible to publicly express conflicting ideas of father-
hood (Plantin, Månsson, & Kearney, 2003).
© eContent Management Pty Ltd

DESIGN
By using two materials we approached the same
questions from slightly different angles to arrive
at more reliable interpretations. This approach
may also function as a stepping stone for new
research questions (Johnson, Onwuegbuzie, &
Turner, 2007).
Analytic frames
To interpret the findings, one cornerstone is
the concept of responsibility since it is strongly
related to gender equality, in relation to child-
care as well as housework (Doucet, 2001, 2006).
Responsibility for childcare refers to activities
that have been undertaken for the benefit of the
child, not necessarily referring to interaction with
the child (Doucet, 2001). It involves taking the
initiative and monitoring what the child needs.
This includes for example making an appoint-
ment at the dentist as well as both determining
when a child needs new clothes and buying them
(Pleck, 2010).
The relational perspective is central in studies
on responsibility (see, e.g., Doucet, 2001). The
sense of responsibility will develop over time, not
least as an effect of couple interaction (Finch &
Mason, 1993). It has been argued that fathers care
and nurture in different ways than mothers and
that in some respects of responsibility fathers are
mainly acting as helpers (Doucet, 2001; Plantin
et al., 2003). Different dimensions of responsibil-
ity and care address the child’s different needs and
encourage various developments. For example,
holding and looking after represent a different
dimension than encouraging risk and indepen-
dent learning. Ideas of gendered parenthood often
characterize these dimensions (Doucet, 2006).
Further, responsibility may relate to norms
in society and how people relate to themselves
as moral beings. Doucet (2006) found that
stay-at-home fathers did not feel judged on the
house’s tidiness and were less concerned about
their and their children’s appearances compared
to mothers in the same situation. An individual’s
self-perception and identity as a gender equal
parent, a caring father, a work-oriented mother
or so on, will also impact on the responsibility
for children (see, e.g., Finch & Mason, 1993;
© eContent Management Pty Ltd Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES
Changes in gender equality? Swedish fathers’ parental leave
Höfner, Schadler, & Richter, 2011). Central to
the identity construction is obviously gender and
doing gender involves more than the continu-
ous construction of meaning through actions,
as it is primarily based on interaction (West &
Zimmerman, 1987). An individual’s gender is
not only an aspect of the identity, but, more fun-
damentally, it is his or her repetitious actions in
interaction with others. It is in the relationship
between the structure of work imperatives and
the structure of normative expectations as gender
determines the allocation of family members’ time
to work and home. The idea of motherhood and
fatherhood may thus both hinder and facilitate a
gender equal division of tasks and the continuous
doing gender may appear different for different
dimensions of gender equality. In this study we
explore the division of household and childcare
tasks in the couple.
Empirical data
This study combines two data sets in its analysis.
The quantitative data set, the Young Adult Panel
Study (YAPS) with surveys conducted in 1999,
2003 and 2009 includes about 3500 respon-
dents in the ages of 20–40 years old. The sample
was drawn from men and women born in 1968,
1972, 1976 and 1980 who were followed during
the period they enter adulthood. The main focus
in the study is on attitudes to work, family and
other activities. Data also contains information
on work and family situation, individual char-
acteristics such as income and education, at the
time of the surveys. Data was collected by postal
questionnaires. We considered a sub-sample of
respondents who had their first child after 2003
and before 2009. We thus follow men and women
who became parents between the two last waves.
This sub-sample consisted of 235 women and
154 men. The sample is representative of Sweden
although the response rate was highest among
highly educated women. Given the type of analy-
sis here performed, this should not influence
the results and conclusions. The respondents
are drawn individually, that means data is not
couple data. However, the respondents answered
questions regarding their partners’ behavior, for
example his/her parental leave use. We exclude
21
 Anna-Lena Almqvist and Ann-Zofie Duvander

respondents where both parents had not yet com- not be studied. Altogether 32 interviews with 16
pleted their parental leave as well as respondents cohabiting or married couples (man and woman),
who were not living with the other parent at were made. Half of the fathers had used short
the time of the survey, to be able to answer our leave of less than 30 days, and half had used long
research questions on sharing of tasks before and leave of more than 100 days. We chose couples
after leave. with a similar income level, to avoid the common
The main interest is the association between argument that mothers use parental leave due to
division of childcare, housework and fathers’ leave lower income.
use, and we divided the sample into the ones The interviews were semi-structured, lasting
where the father took short leave up to 2 months, about an hour. Men and women were interviewed
and the ones where the father took a longer leave separately, most often in their home. The inter-
than 2 months. In the short leave group a few views were transcribed verbatim and the qualitative
fathers who took no leave at all are included. analysis and synthesis were conducted according
There are no indications that this has affected the to principles inspired by grounded theory (Bryant
result. Table 1 shows the descriptive statistics of & Charmaz, 2007). Data were coded openly and
the sample used. then systematically to find categories which could
The qualitative data set (REGQUAL) is help us explain and deepen the understanding
selected by region and by first-time fathers to of parental leave. Both studies were undertaken
children born in 2005 or 2006. Two counties under common ethical prescriptions.
(Västerbotten and Skåne) with the highest and
lowest parental leave take-up by fathers were FINDINGS
selected in 2008. In each county, one munici- Gender equality – expectations and reality
pality where fathers had used comparatively few As the division of parental leave is often used as
days and one where fathers had used many days an indicator of gender equality in Sweden the
were chosen. In this study, regional variation will attitude to sharing leave will mirror expecta-
tions of gender equal parenthood. Table 2 shows
a logistic regression model of the propensity to
TABLE 1: DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS FOR YAPS IN
PERCENTAGE
agree completely that the parental leave should
Age in 2009 Men Women
be equally shared between parents. The answers
come from 2009 when all respondents have at
41 9.4 6.0 least one child. It is clear that the attitude to the
37 32.3 26.8 same question in 2003, when the respondents
33 41.0 43.1 were childless, strongly influences the attitude
29 16.2 24.2
More than 2 years in tertiary 30.8 40.1 TABLE 2: COMPLETELY AGREEING WITH THE STATEMENT
education ‘PARENTS SHOULD SHARE THE LEAVE EQUALLY’ AFTER MEN
Father took long leave 61.7 55.3 AND WOMEN HAVE THEIR FIRST CHILD. LOGISTIC REGRESSION

Agreeing completely in 2003 that 38.0 36.8 Odds ratio

‘parents should share the leave
equally’ Agreeing with same statement 6.13 ***
Agreeing completely in 2009 that 34.7 33.3 before having first child (2003)
‘parents should share the leave Father took long leave 3.02 ***
equally’ Man (ref = woman) 1.16
Expecting to share childcare 2003 76.7 73.7 More than 2 years tertiary education 1.35
Share childcare in 2009 73.2 61.0 Age 1.12 ***
Share housework in 2003 46.2 48.3 Constant 0.00 ***
Share housework in 2009 54.9 45.1 Pseudo R2 0.203
N 154 235
**Statistically significant at 5%; ***statistically significant
N indicates total number of responses. at 1%.

22 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014 © eContent Management Pty Ltd

once becoming a parent. There is thus a clear
connection of attitudes before and after becom-
ing parents. However, our main interest is the
impact of whether the father took long or short
leave. Respondents where the father took long
leave more often think that the leave should be
shared, also when earlier attitude to leave sharing
is controlled for. It seems that older respondents
more often think leave should be shared but we
find no significant differences in relation to gen-
der and educational level.
In REGQUAL, fathers tended to justify the
length of leave they had taken. Those who had
taken short leave justified this by referring to their
own restlessness and that they wanted to be out
working with their colleagues. Furthermore, their
partners often reported a preference for staying
at home. This seemed to coincide with strong
argumentation for a more traditional division
of the leave both from the man and the woman.
The men thus seemed pleased with their partner’s
preference. A father who had used short leave
reported that ‘Petra has always been more inter-
ested in staying at home. If she had been focused
on working too, I guess I had been at home for
some time. But we might not have been at home
with Louise as long as we have been now.’ One
father who took short leave reported: ‘I go up the
wall if I stayed at home with the children. I like
my children but I have to have something to do.’
This father seemed to define childcare and house-
work as non-work, as compared to his everyday
paid job. This reflects the reasoning by West and
Zimmerman (1987) on how gender reproduction
is expressed.
Furthermore, REGQUAL indicated that par-
ticularly in couples where the father had used
long leave, a more gender equal relationship
later on could be found. A mother, with a part-
ner who used long leave said: ‘Yes, definitely, he
realized when he stayed at home, that life was
not just about being at home with the boy, but
also taking care of everything that is at home,
and he took more responsibility.’ Most couples
in REGQUAL perceived themselves as having
gender equal relationships. This was the case also
in couples who reported an uneven distribution
of paid and unpaid work, reflecting the strong
© eContent Management Pty Ltd Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES
Changes in gender equality? Swedish fathers’ parental leave
discourse on gender equality. Gender equality
was most outspoken among women whose part-
ners had taken long leave. In YAPS it was obvi-
ous that most couples expected to share childcare
before having children and also claimed to do so
after becoming parents. Regarding housework,
fewer shared these tasks before and after becom-
ing parents, see Table 1.
Sharing of childcare
Table 3 presents an analysis of which respon-
dents share childcare in 2009. We find that
the respondents, who expected to share child-
care in 2003, before they became parents, are
more likely to do so. We also find, independent
of parents’ expectations, that the respondents
where the father took long leave more often
shared the childcare. However, even if the find-
ing is controlled for expectations, the results
should not be interpreted as causal. Selection
mechanisms into fathers’ long leave and later
shared childcare may be at play. Just as the
older respondents agreed that the parental leave
should be shared they were more likely to share
childcare.
Young Adult Panel Study also included ques-
tions on who performed various child-related
tasks most often (or always). In Table 4 the
results are aggregated for all respondents. As the
responses tended in the same direction and we
want to focus on differences between activities we
choose to present female and male respondents’
answers together.
TABLE 3: SHARING CHILDCARE AFTER HAVING A FIRST
CHILD. LOGISTIC REGRESSION
Odds ratio
Expecting to share childcare 2.26 ***
before having a child (2003)
Father took long leave 2.28 ***
Man (ref = woman) 1.51
More than 2 years tertiary 0.72
education
Age 1.10 **
Constant 0.02 ***
Pseudo R2 0.078
**Statistically significant at 5%; ***statistically significant
at 1%.
23
 Anna-Lena Almqvist and Ann-Zofie Duvander

Some of the caring tasks were shared more
equally in families where the father used long
leave. For example, there is a large difference in
how a task like staying at home when the child is
sick is shared, compared to a task like putting the
child to bed. It is much more common to share
being home with a sick child in the cases where
the father used long leave compared to when he
used short leave, while most parents equally often
put the child to bed, regardless of the father’s
leave length. Also in REGQUAL, several families
mentioned that they put children to bed every
other night, indicating a fairly gender equal child-
related task. However, in both materials other
tasks seemed still to be female dominated, even
when the fathers took long leave. Earlier research
(Daly, 2002) also showed the primacy of women
as the major organizers in the family. It seems, in
YAPS, that especially buying and fixing clothes,
and staying in contact with preschool, are female
tasks even when the father took long leave. These
were the kind of tasks which in a time-survey
would only amount to a couple of minutes but
would occupy the parents’ mind for a longer time.
In REGQUAL, only fathers who had used long
leave and their partners mentioned that the child
turned to both parents when in need of comfort.
A father with long leave reported: ‘Now when she
has hurt herself, she can scream ‘Daddy’ instead
of ‘Mummy’ all the time, which according to my
experience is very common.’ This father exempli-
fied taking responsibility (Doucet, 2006).

TABLE 4: MAIN RESPONSIBILITY FOR CHILD-RELATED TASKS IN PERCENTAGE Sharing of housework

The father took… There is a more indi-
Short Long Short Long Short Long N rect link between sharing
leave leave leave leave leave leave parental leave and sharing
housework than between
Who usually/always… Man Equally Woman parental leave and child-
… Stays at home when 4 9 36 63 60 28 279
care. Table 5 shows the
the child is sick?
propensity to share house-
… Is in touch with 8 7 28 52 64 41 277
daycare/school? work equally among the
… Takes the child(ren) to 12 9 55 75 32 17 201 respondents in 2009, when
leisure activities? they had become parents. It
… Puts the child(ren) to 12 9 65 76 23 15 308 is clear that sharing house-
bed work before becoming par-
… Buys and fixes the 0 2 16 16 84 82 312 ents, in 2003, increases the
child(ren)’s clothes?
propensity to share house-
N indicates total number of responses. work also as parents. It is
also clear that the respon-
TABLE 5: SHARING HOUSEWORK AFTER BECOMING dents where the father had taken long leave more
PARENTS. LOGISTIC REGRESSION often share the housework as parents. None of the
Odds ratio control variables of gender, age and educational
leave are statistically significant. We think that the
Sharing housework before 2.50 ***
becoming parents (2003) sample size may be limiting the analysis here.
Father took long leave 1.72 ** In REGQUAL, couples declared that before
Man (ref = woman) 1.47 parental leave, housework was fairly evenly shared,
More than 2 years tertiary 1.04 regardless of the father’s subsequent leave length.
education However, when asking about the parents’ prac-
Age 1.04 tice, a traditional division of housework, before as
Constant 0.10 ** well as after parental leave, was more pronounced
Pseudo R 2 0.064 in families where the father took short leave com-
**Statistically significant at 5%; ***statistically significant pared to long leave. A mother with a partner who
at 1%. had used short leave said: ‘I have never considered

24 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014 © eContent Management Pty Ltd

it a problem, one only does it and … I always
clean and I have always done that and there has
never ever been a change in that.’
In couples where fathers took long leave it
seemed as though there had been more discussion
in terms of who should do what and when, with
increased gender equality as an aim in the couple.
This concerned primarily housework, but could
also relate to bringing and picking up children at
preschool. Generally, fathers who took long leave
talked about the housework with greater involve-
ment, also after the parental leave.
Furthermore, mothers and fathers tended to
prioritize childcare and housework differently
during parental leave. When asked how a day dur-
ing parental leave was spent, a father who took
long parental leave reported:
We [he and his son] could spend the morning in a car
store, just going around watching cars. I never think
that Carina would do that. So, of course, we did dif-
ferent things, and also in the home, I believe. I can go
around here and think it’s filthy for some days, but
it doesn’t bother me that much. But Carina could
definitely not do that. She rather puts Anton aside, in
these cases and does the vacuum cleaning.
A strong pattern in REGQUAL was that
fathers, when on parental leave, prioritized being
with the child over doing housework.
DISCUSSION
We set out to describe how gender equality and
parental leave are related in Sweden. By combining
a qualitative study with survey results we intended
to give a more comprehensive description than one
method alone would have achieved. We aimed to
deepen the understanding and give insight into the
reasoning around gender equality, childcare and
housework among Swedish men and women.
The overarching question was whether fathers’
length of parental leave is related to other aspects
of gender equality. More specifically, is fathers’
long parental leave associated with subsequent
gender equality in childcare and housework?
By referring to Doucet’s notion of responsibil-
ity we attempt to go further than just describing
the time spent on chores by also including how
childcare and housework are perceived. The study
shows that differences in how household tasks are
© eContent Management Pty Ltd Volume 20, Issue 1, April 2014 JOURNAL OF FAMILY STUDIES
Changes in gender equality? Swedish fathers’ parental leave
shared between couples before parenthood are
later reinforced. Further, those expecting to share
childcare before having a child, were more likely
to do so, when being parents. Parents also state
that leave length is important for how gender
equal the relationship will be after the leave. We
find that in the cases the father took long leave the
couple shared both household tasks and childcare
more equally after the leave, compared to couples
where the father took short leave.
When on parental leave, the qualitative data
indicates that mothers’ and fathers’ time was
differently spent during leave in so forth that
fathers prioritize children over housework and
it is plausible that childcare is more willingly
shared than household tasks. Moreover, when
the father took long leave both parents men-
tioned that the child relates to the father as
much as the mother in everyday life. A short
leave may not alter a traditional division of
housework even temporarily. We also find that
some childcare tasks are divided differently,
depending on whether the father took long or
short leave but other tasks, like fixing clothes
etc. are mothers’ responsibility in most couples
regardless of how leave is shared.
All in all, it seems that division of childcare is
more related to fathers’ leave length than house-
work is. It is a plausible result and should not just
be linked to the fact that the aim of the parental
leave obviously is childcare, but also that childcare
is preferred to housework. Fathers’ parental leave
may thus have an impact on some aspects of gen-
der equality, while not being sufficient to change
others; at least not at the present levels. The results
are in line with other studies on Sweden indicating
that childcare is more equally shared than house-
work (Thomas & Hildingsson, 2009). We hope
that this study gives rise to further disentangling
of the concept of gender equality, where various
aspects of household tasks and dimensions of
childcare are separated. The obvious connection to
investment and time spent in labor market work
by mothers and father should also be addressed.
Limitations of the study are several. The quali-
tative data is based on a small number of inter-
views. Thus, the findings make no claim on being
representative. The quantitative data is also limited
25
 Anna-Lena Almqvist and Ann-Zofie Duvander
in size and both data sets build on self-reports of
division of tasks. It is possible that the partners’
reports on for example division of tasks differ;
something that would be very difficult to check.
We conclude that norms of gender equality
and gender equal behavior relate to subsequent
behavior and that they are in interplay with each
other. Change in leave patterns will certainly not
solve an unequal gender division of childcare or
housework, but it will matter. Sweden may be
seen as an outlier in providing these generous
opportunities for shared parenthood. When relat-
ing this study to other settings, the major find-
ing is that early father involvement matters for
fathers’ care later in their children’s lives. There
may be thresholds, though, for father involve-
ment concerning the division in the couple of
other tasks, such as housework. A final note is
that the norm for Swedish fathers to use parental
leave has gradually been strengthened since the
1970s; whether our results reflect slow or fast
change in attitudes to gender equal sharing is up
to the reader to judge.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Authors would like to thank the respondents
participating in this study. Financial support was
received from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency
and Stockholm University Linnaeus Center on
Social Policy and Family Dynamics in Europe.
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Received 05 November 2012 Accepted 03 March 2014

N O W AVA I L A B L E
MIXED METHODS IN GENDERS & SEXUALITIES RESEARCH
A special issue of International Journal of Multiple Research Approaches – Volume 7 Issue 2
ISBN 978-1-921980-23-7 – August 2013
Guest Editors: Lisa Jean Moore (Purchase College, SUNY, Purchase NY (USA))
and Damien W Riggs (Flinders University, Adelaide SA, Australia)
EDITORIAL: Mixing it up: Contemporary gender and sexuality Queering pornography through qualitative methods –
research methods – Lisa Jean Moore and Damien W Riggs Natalie Ingraham
Misgendering in English language contexts: Applying non- Schooling gender: Ethical dilemmas in employing critical youth
cisgenderist methods to feminist research – Y Gavriel Ansara studies – Sarah Prior
and Peter Hegarty Using mixed methods to analyse barriers to primary paediatric
Methodological considerations from a Kinsey Institute mixed health access – Yvonne Parry and Eileen Willis
methods pilot project – Janice McCabe, Amanda E Tanner, Methodological challenges in studying urban Aboriginal home-
Jack K Martin, J Scott Long and Julia R Heiman lessness – Wilfreda E Thurston, Nellie D Oelke and David Turner
‘Yes you’re Tamil! but are you Tamil enough?’ An Indian Challenges associated with qualitative interviewing for
researcher interrogates ‘shared social location’ in feminist im- Indigenous research: Insights from experience – Pam McGrath,
migration research – Namita N Manohar Nicole Rawson and Leonora Adidi
Disciplinary crossings and methodological contaminations in Practice note: Using debriefing interviews to promote authentic-
gender research: A psycho-anthropological survey on ity and transparency in mixed research – Kathleen M T Collins,
Neapolitan femminielli – Eugenio Zito Anthony J Onwuegbuzie, R Burke Johnson and Rebecca K Frels
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