Women in Different-Sex Couples Lose the Most Income After Becoming Parents
A new Nordic study, led by researchers at Stockholm University, shows how gender roles and family policies shape parents’ earnings – with significant differences between countries and family types. Comparing different-sex and lesbian couples has been a key element of the analysis.
When couples have a child, the birth mother’s income typically drops – but how much it drops depends on both the couple’s gender composition and which Nordic country they live in. This is shown in a new study from Stockholm University, based on register data covering more than 170,000 different-sex couples and 2,800 female same-sex couples in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and Finland.
“By comparing same-sex and different-sex couples, we gain a better understanding of how much of the income gap is driven by gender roles. Same-sex couples serve as a kind of test case – when gender norms don’t apply in the same way, it becomes clearer how much family policy actually affects parents’ economic outcomes,” says Marie Evertsson, Professor of Sociology at the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI).
The study shows that women experience a loss in labor income after having their first child. In female same-sex couples, the income drop for the birth mother is much smaller than in different-sex couples – especially in Sweden, where family policies make it easier for parents to share both parental leave and childcare responsibilities, but also in Denmark, where children enter formal childcare at an earlier age.
In Finland, the pattern looks different. In addition to parental leave, there is a cash-for-care benefit that encourages parents to stay home longer. Limited part-time work opportunities and norms tied to biological motherhood likely reinforce the effects of this long leave period. According to the researchers, this leads to birth mothers in same-sex couples being more likely to stay at home, resulting in income losses similar to those experienced by mothers in different-sex couples.
The researchers tracked the couples’ incomes three years before and five years after the child’s birth. The study shows that when both parents are women – and therefore less subject to heteronormative expectations – income losses are more evenly distributed, especially in countries without home care allowances and with early access to childcare.
“Our findings suggest that family policies encouraging both parents to work and share responsibilities can reduce long-term income gaps between parents,” says Marie Evertsson.
Read the full study: Stimulating (In)equality? The Earnings Penalty in Different-Sex and Female Same-Sex Couples Transitioning to Parenthood in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Published in the American Journal of Sociology: https://doi.org/10.1086/735884
Contact
Marie Evertsson, Professor of Sociology, Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI), Stockholm University
- Email: marie.evertsson@sofi.su.se
- Phone: +46 (0)8 16 26 98
Last updated: June 30, 2025
Source: Magnus Dahl