Karin Halldén is an associate professor (docent) at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University, and a professor in work life studies at Mälardalen University. Her research interests include gender differences in labour market careers and working life, and their intersection with family. In her recent work, she connects differences between men and women’s labour market rewards to family situation and policies targeted to labour market gender equality. She has also studied gender segregation in education and in the labour market as well as work-related ill health. Halldén is part of the advisory board of Social Politics.

Recent publications

Halldén, K., Syk, E., & Westerman, J. (2026).'Arbetskvalitet och psykisk ohälsa i arbetsmarknadens utkanter.´ [Job Quality and Mental Ill Health in Peripheral Labour Market Positions] Chapter 2.2 in K. Boye & J. Westerman (eds.), Välfärd & livsvillkor: Perspektiv på samtida samhällsbilder. [Welfare and Living Conditions: Perspectives on Contemporary Society] Liber.

Bihagen, E., Halldén, K., Shahbazian, R., Syk, E., & Westerman, J. (2026).'Anställningstider i Sverige från 1960-talet fram till idag.´ [Employment Tenure in Sweden from the 1960s to the Present] Chapter 2.1 in K. Boye & J. Westerman (eds.), Välfärd & livsvillkor: Perspektiv på samtida samhällsbilder. [Welfare and Living Conditions: Perspectives on Contemporary Society] Liber.

Chudnovskaya, M., Halldén, K., & Valldor, A. (2026). 'Populist places: Work-life inequality and radical right support across municipalities in Sweden.' Chapter 3 i M. Tåhlin (ed.), Understanding Work-life Inequality. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Halldén, K. Stenberg, A. (2023). 'Freedom of Career Choice? A Report on Gender Segregation in Education and Occupation.'' Report to the Expert Group on Public Economics (ESO) 2023:6.

Almstedt Valldor, A. & Halldén, K. (2023). 'Skills and occupational sex segregation in Europe.' Chapter 5 in M. Tåhlin (ed.), A Research Agenda for Skills and Inequality. Edward Elgar Publishing.

Duvander, A.-Z., Halldén, K., Koslowski, A. & Sjögren Lindquist, G. (2022). 'Income loss and leave taking: Do financial benefit top-ups influence fathers' parental leave use in Sweden?' Journal of Social Policy, 1-21.  

Halldén, K., & Stenberg, A. (2018). ‘The relationship between hours of outsourced domestic services and female earnings: Evidence from a Swedish tax reform.’ Research in Social Stratification and Mobility (RSSM), 55, 120-133.

Halldén, K., Säve-Söderbergh, J. & Rosén, Å. (2018). ‘Gender of the immediate manager and women’s wages: The importance of managerial position.’ Social Science Research, 72, 115-133.

Boye, K., Halldén, K. & Magnusson, C. (2017). ‘Stagnation only on the surface? The implications of skill and family responsibilities for the gender wage gap in Sweden, 1974-2010.’ British Journal of Sociology, 68, 595-619.

Grönlund, A., Halldén, K. & Magnusson, C. (2017). ‘A Scandinavian success story? Women’s labour market outcomes in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden.’ Acta Sociologica, 60(2), 97-119.