Stockholm university
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Ann-Zofie DuvanderProfessor of Demography

About me

Ann-Zofie Duvander is Professor of Demography. Her research interests include family policy as well as the family and work-connection. She is an expert on parental leave policies in Sweden, with a special focus on leave taken by fathers.

In addition to studies of parental leave and child care effects on childbearing, she has conducted several studies of variation and change in parental leave usage and its effects. She has also been involved in comparative Nordic and international studies.

Link to press photos

High and low resolution. Photo: Leila Zoubir / Stockholm University

Research

Projects

  • The impact of parental leave use on women’s labour market careers
  • Gender equality and fertility: The influence of parents' parental leave use on continued childbearing. A Nordic comparative study
  • Parental leave and attitudes to children and gender equality
  • How effective are reforms promoting fathers' parental leave use?

Research projects

Can social policy change behavior?

This project has three aims: to assess gendered trends in leave provisions across 31 countries since 1965, examine links between leave policies and gendered use using Eurostat Labour Force Survey data (2010, 2018), and explore how long-term exposure to leave rights influences mothers’ and fathers’ leave use.

Baby and father on the floor
Young parents, parental leave and gender equality

One aim of this project is to produce a Nordic overview of research and statistics on the socio-economic patterns and cultural aspects of parental leave take-up by young parents under 30 years of age. Another aim is to examine the consequences of these patterns for gender equality in the labour market and in family life.

Couple with baby stroller
Who decides on a child's health care?

The project "Who decides on a child's health care? An interdisciplinary study on the child's right to participation in decisions concerning care and treatment" explores how the interaction between children, custodians and health care staff affects children's right to participation, determination and integrity in their own health care.

Boy and mother at a health clinic

Publications

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

  • Does Fathers' Care Spill Over? Evaluating Reforms in the Swedish Parental Leave Program

    2019. Ann-Zofie Duvander, Mats Johansson. Feminist Economics 25 (2), 67-89

    Article

    The aim of reserving months for fathers in the Swedish parental leave system was to increase fathers' use of leave as well as encourage gender equality in the home and labor market. Using data from the Swedish Social Insurance Agency, this study investigates the effects of the reform - reserving one month of leave for fathers in 1995 and a second month in 2002 - on gender equality in the home. The study uses the take up of the parental benefit for the care for sick children (CFSC) as a proxy for gender equality and follows parents' use of CFSC for twelve years for the first reform and ten years for the second reform. Results indicate the first reform led to more equal leave sharing, mainly because use of the benefit decreased among mothers with low education, and at least in part fulfilled the aim of increasing gender equality in the home.

    Read more about Does Fathers' Care Spill Over? Evaluating Reforms in the Swedish Parental Leave Program

  • Basic Income

    2018. Alison Koslowski, Ann-Zofie Duvander. Social Inclusion 6 (4), 8-15

    Article

    Basic income is likely to gain momentum as the next social welfare trend to sweep over the world with ideas of how to improve the fairness and efficiency of distributing money. Other earlier movements with similar ambitions to transform societies, ranging across the political spectrum from socialism to neo-liberalism, have led to very different consequences for strata of citizens, but have in common that they have de-prioritised gender equality in favour of other interests. Advocates of basic income suggest that in addition to pragmatic gains, such as a more efficient state administration, primarily a basic income will empower citizens, leading to the potential for greater human flourishing. Our question is whether this empowerment will be gendered and if so, how? So far, the basic income debate addresses gender only in so far as it would raise the income of the poorest, of whom a larger proportion are women. However, it is less clear how it might contribute to a transformation of gendered behaviour, making possible divergent shapes of life where binary and set notions of gender are not a restriction. We discuss the idea of basic income from a perspective of gender equality in the Swedish context.

    Read more about Basic Income

  • Promoting Parental Leave for Immigrant Fathers-What Role Does Policy Play?

    2017. Jussi Tervola, Ann-Zofie Duvander, Eleonora Mussino. Social Politics 24 (3), 269-297

    Article

    The gender differences in labor force participation and take-up of parental leave are accentuated in immigrant populations. This study examines whether certain policy features of parental leave are effective in leveling out the gendered differences among immigrants. We compare two distinct policy contexts, Finland and Sweden, and analyze the impacts of three policy reforms. Our results imply that policy features such as the earmarking of days and flexibility are the reason why immigrant fathers' take-up of leave is higher in Sweden. However, analysis of policy reforms suggests that other contextual factors also play a role.

    Read more about Promoting Parental Leave for Immigrant Fathers-What Role Does Policy Play?

  • Cash-for-care policy in Sweden

    2017. Giuliana Giuliani, Ann Zofie Duvander. International Journal of Social Welfare 26 (1), 49-62

    Article

    In 2008, Sweden introduced a cash-for-care benefit consisting of a flat-rate sum paid by municipalities to parents whose children were between the ages of one and three and who did not use publicly subsidised childcare. The main object of the reform was to increase parents' freedom to choose', but the policy was criticised because of its potentially negative effects on gender equality and mothers' employment. This study focuses on the effects of cash-for-care on female employment in Sweden. The study shows that the adoption of this policy had negative effects on female employment, although primarily in rural areas. Cash-for-care was abolished in Sweden in 2016. To evaluate the effects that the policy had on female employment during the time it was in place is important as it indicates what may happen if the policy is introduced again.

    Read more about Cash-for-care policy in Sweden

  • Women have a stronger say in couples' decisions to have a child

    2017. Ann-Zofie Duvander (et al.). Sociologisk forskning 54 (4), 307-312

    Article

    Sweden stands out as a forerunner in the development of gender equality and family dynamics. To deepen the knowledge on power distribution and gender dynamics of couple relations, we investigate how women and men's childbearing intentions influence actual childbearing behavior. The Young Adult Panel Study (YAPS) has information on both partners' childbearing intentions in 2009, which we follow for five years with register data on childbearing. The results indicate that women's childbearing intentions are more important than men's intentions in determining actual childbirths.

    Read more about Women have a stronger say in couples' decisions to have a child

  • Demografi

    2017. Ann-Zofie Duvander, Jani Turunen.

    Book (ed)

    Jordens befolkning har de senaste 50 åren ökat med över fyra miljarder människor. Hur har det gått till? Är det för att vi lever längre eller för att vi skaffar fler barn? Är befolkningsökning  positivt eller negativt? Varför domineras vissa befolkningar av barn medan andra åldras snabbt – och vad blir följderna av detta?

    För att svara på dessa frågor krävs demografisk kunskap. Med den här boken vill vi ge läsaren ökad kunskap om världens befolkningsutveckling med fokus på Sverige. Vi vill ge förståelse för hur befolkningen påverkar samhällets utformning, men också om hur samhället kan påverka befolkningsutvecklingen.

    Boken beskriver befolkningsutvecklingen i ett historiskt perspektiv men har sitt huvudsakliga fokus på nutida samhällen. Kapitlen tar upp demografins mest centrala processer: barnafödande, dödlighet och migration men även befolkningsstruktur samt parbildning och separationer. Boken presenterar även grundläggande demografiska mått och metoder.

    Boken vänder sig till studenter inom främst samhällsvetenskap men även andra som är intresserade av att få en introduktion till demografi.

    Read more about Demografi

  • Understanding Local Variations in Gender Relations Using Gender Contract Theory

    2019. Karen Haandrikman, Natasha Webster, Ann-Zofie Duvander.

    Report

    Despite Sweden’s family policy existing at the national level, usage of these policies can vary substantially across regions and by gender suggesting a need for closer examination of local variance in these usages. The concept of ‘gender contract’, describes the systematic organization of a gender system that is constructed, controlled and reinforced by relations between men and women and articulated into daily activities such as childcare. This study demonstrates the importance of spatial variation in gender contracts and identifies gender contracts from the gendered use of parental leave in Sweden. Using register data, we create individualized neighbourhoods with fixed population size, based on the location of the residence of individuals. By using a multiscalar approach, we show that local gender contracts vary substantially, and that no dominant regional gender contracts appear instead highlighting local variance of gender contracts. The spatial analyses show the ways in which individuals engage with both structure and society in their daily life. Uncovering gender contracts highlights the ways in which national policies are interpreted locally by users and test the operationalisation of a so far mainly theoretical concept.

    Read more about Understanding Local Variations in Gender Relations Using Gender Contract Theory

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