A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• The Anatomy of the Extensive Margin Labor Supply Response

  2021. Spencer Bastani, Ylva Moberg, Håkan Selin. Scandinavian Journal of Economics 123 (1), 33-59

  Article

  We estimate how labor force participation among married women in Sweden responded to changing work incentives implied by a reform in the tax and transfer system in 1997. Using rich, population‐wide, administrative data, we estimate an average participation elasticity of 0.13, thereby adding to the scarce literature estimating participation elasticities using quasi‐experimental methods. We also highlight that estimated extensive margin responses necessarily are local to the observed equilibrium. Among low‐income earners, elasticities are twice as large in the group with the lowest employment level, compared with the group with the highest employment level.

  Read more about The Anatomy of the Extensive Margin Labor Supply Response

• Parentalization of Same-Sex Couples: Family Formation and Leave Rights in Five Northern European Countries

  2020. Marie Evertsson, Eva Jaspers, Ylva Moberg. The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy, 397-428

  Chapter

   This chapter introduces the concept of parentalization, defined as the ability to become parents and be recognized as such, both legally and via social policies. Applying the concept to same-sex couples, we examine how states may facilitate or hinder the transition to parenthood through laws and policies in five Northern European countries; Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Trends in the number of children zero years of age in married/cohabiting same-sex couples suggest a link between parentalization and realized parenthood. As partly indicated by these trends, parentalization is a gendered concept, and parenthood is more readily available to some couples than to others. Perhaps most importantly, very few same-sex couples have been able to jointly adopt a child. The fact that married female couples face fewer barriers to parentalization than other non-traditional couples partly reflects dominant norms on gender and motherhood.

  Read more about Parentalization of Same-Sex Couples

• THE DEMOGRAPHY OF SWEDEN’S TRANSGENDER POPULATION  — PATTERNS, CHANGES, AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHICS

  2023. Lucas Tilley (et al.).

  Report

  Our study examines the prevalence of gender transitions in Sweden over time and documents the sociodemographic characteristics of people transitioning in different periods. We use national administrative data covering the transgender population from 1973–2020 and analyze two common events in a gender transition: the earliest diagnosis of gender incongruence and the change of legal gender. We have three main findings. First, the measured prevalence of both types of events is relatively low in all periods, although it has increased substantially since the early 2010s. Second, the recent increase in transition prevalence is most pronounced among people in early adulthood; in particular, young transgender men drive an increase in overall transition rates through 2018, followed by moderate declines in 2019 and 2020. Third, transgender men and women have substantially lower socioeconomic outcomes than cisgender men and women, regardless of the age at which they transition or the historical period. They are also considerably less likely to be in a legal union or reside with children. These findings highlight the continued economic and social vulnerability of the transgender population. 

  Read more about THE DEMOGRAPHY OF SWEDEN’S TRANSGENDER POPULATION  — PATTERNS, CHANGES, AND SOCIODEMOGRAPHICS

• Why do gendered divisions of labour persist? Parental leave take-up among adoptive and biological parents 

  2022. Ylva Moberg, Maaike van der Vleuten. European Sociological Review 39 (2), 210-228

  Article

  Mothers’ longer time out of the labour market due to parental leave has been proposed as one of the main determinants of the gender pay gap. This study focuses on the mechanisms behind the gendered division of care after entering parenthood. By comparing paid parental leave use of biological parents (where mothers gave birth) to adoptive parents (where they did not), we assess to what extend the unequal division of care can be explained by physiological aspects of motherhood or if other explanations, like gender norms or financial motives, can explain these differences. We analyse Swedish register data from 1994 to 2009 on couples whose first child was biological (N = 114,479) or adopted (N = 5,467) (between-family comparisons) and for families who had both adopted and biological children (within-family comparisons; N = 1,033). We find highly similar patterns in the division, length, and timing of parental leave for biological and adoptive children. Both biological and adoptive mothers take the majority of leave (78–82 per cent), the longest leave, and the first leave period. We conclude that persistent norms of mothers as caregivers/homemakers and fathers as breadwinners shape parents’ use of parental leave to a greater extent than factors related to biological motherhood or financial motives. 

  Read more about Why do gendered divisions of labour persist? Parental leave take-up among adoptive and biological parents 

• Joint Utility or Sub-optimal Outcomes? Household Income Development of Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples Transitioning to Parenthood in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

  2024. Maaike van der Vleuten, Marie Evertsson, Ylva Moberg. Journal of Family Issues 45 (8), 2049-2076

  Article

  Unequal divisions of paid work and care among new parents contribute to increasing inequalities. One explanation for this is joint utility maximization and the benefits of partners (temporarily) specializing in paid work and care. This paper examines the (dis)advantages of specializing compared to dividing tasks more equally by studying whether differences in specialization between same-sex and different-sex couples lead to differences in household earnings after entering parenthood. Using register data from Norway, Finland, Denmark, and Sweden and examining first-time parents, we show that female couples have a more equal within-couple income development during the transition to parenthood than different-sex couples do. However, we find no differences in household income (including or excluding social transfers) between the two types of couples. Although a more equal task division may be preferred from an individual perspective, our results show no evidence of a “best strategy” when it comes to maximizing household income.

  Read more about Joint Utility or Sub-optimal Outcomes? Household Income Development of Same-Sex and Different-Sex Couples Transitioning to Parenthood in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden

Show all publications by Ylva Moberg at Stockholm University