Data on parental leave: To measure leave episodes Leave Episode Project (LEP) Ann-Zofie Duvander Helen Eriksson Ida Viklund
Presentation Why we need to study parental leave episodes Collaboration on data with Swedish Social Insurance Agency Two studies Ideas for future studies
Data from Swedish Social Insurance Agency Sick leave Pensions Parental leave Other benefits that are not daily benefits (for example child allowance, disability allowance, housing allowance)
Parental benefit and parental leave is not the same! Much more generous right to be off work than the benefit Parents have the right to: 18 months leave with or without pay Leave at any time benefit is used until child is 8 (12 since 2014) Reduce work hours to 75 % (can be covered by parental benefit) Leads to different patterns of use, different lengths of leave
Parental benefit 8 months of benefit to each parent 2 months reserved to each parent, rest can be transferred 13 months with 80% of income (or if no income low flat rate) 3 months with low flat rate Can be used until child is 8 (12 since 2014) Full day or part of day down to 1/8 of day
Parental leave law and parental insurance leads to: Parents stretching out days and home more than benefit days Differences in length and strategies of use For researchers easy to underestimate the labour market exits (can also be overestimated )
Why is it important to measure parental leave correctly in time? Use will affect measures of sharing between parents Different socio-economic groups will have different access to flexibility (requires economy and stable work) Comparative studies may lead wrong Wrong idea of children s economic situation and parents priorities Patterns of use will affect the consequences of use (gender equality, continued childbearing, income and career development) Reliability of data: different results from register and survey studies
Leave Episode Project (LEP) Collaboration between Swedish Social Insurance Agency and Stockholm University to improve data quality and data use Estimate measure of parental leave when unpaid days are included Estimate sequences of leave use Investigate subgroups of parents Stockholm University SIMSAM Node for Demographic Research (SUNDEM) Social Policy and Family Dynamics in Europe (SPaDE) Nordic Family Policy and Demographic Consequences (NORDiC)
Data All parents living in Sweden to children born 1994-2011 Dated parental leave days until 2012 Use of administrative data from parents applications. Cleaned by Swedish Social Insurance Agency. Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su From to
Data, example 1st of April to 30th of June Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su X X X X X From to Mo Tu We Th Fr Sa Su 27th of July to 28th July X X From to
Two projects How long are mothers and fathers home with parental leave? What are the patterns of sharing the parental leave?
How many unpaid days are used without going back to work? How long are the episodes? How many days are between the episodes? Subsample of first born children in 2009, parental leave use for 1 and 2 years
The total parental leave length measured in benefit days and leave days. for mothers and fathers during the child s first 2 years Benefit days Parental leave days Unpaid days between episodes, max days 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Mothers 285,5 370,4 371,2 404,4 405,4 406,4 407,2 408,0 Fathers 88,0 125,0 125,2 134,6 135,2 135,8 136,6 137,4
Distribution of mothers parental benefit days and parental leave days Child s first year Child s two first years
Distribution of fathers parental benefit days and parental leave days Child s first year Child s two first years
Leave days and benefit days based on all parents 1 year Parental leave days Benefit days Mothers 304 (10 mth) 223 (7,5 mth) 97 % Fathers 36 (1 mth) 23 (<1 mth) 51 % Fathers share 11 % 9 % Share of parents using leave 2 years Mothers 398 (>13 mth) 281 (<9,5 mth) 98 % Fathers 103 (3,5 mth) 67 (2 mth) 77 % Fathers share 21 % 19 %
Patterns/strategies/sequences of leave How can we group the different sequences? Do we find dual carer? Consider time in leave and type of care (dual or mothers main care) Sample: 2,158 parental couples with children born in Sweden in 2009
Examples of sequences 0 months Age of child 12 months 24 months 0 months Age of child 12 months 24 months 0 months Age of child 12 months 24 months Mother only taking leave Father only taking leave Both taking leave No leave taken
Month by month: Who took paid parental leave for the child? 42 % 32 % 10 % 49 %
Characteristics of clusters Average no of months Percent Mother primary Father primary Shared Total parental care Dual Primary Care, Long Segments Dual Primary Care, Alternating 32% 10,6 4,7 1,3 16,7 10% 7,5 1,4 7,1 16,0 Mother Primary Care 49% 14,0 0,3 0,9 15,2
Continued work Length of leave from child s perspective Parents with various characteristics (income, education, occupation, place of birth/residence) Subgroups (adoptive parents, separating parents, lone parents, multiple births) Demographic and economic consequences Use after preschool start (after age2)