The unintended consequences of Swedish parental leave policy

Sweden has long been praised for a generous parental leave policy oriented towards facilitating a gender-equitable approach to work and parenting. Yet certain aspects of Swedish parental leave could also be responsible for the maintenance of (or even the increase in) health inequalities. Using a “Health in All Policies” lens, this research project aims to assess the unintended health consequences of various components of Sweden’s parental leave policy, including eligibility for and uptake of earnings based benefits.

The purpose of this project is to assess the unintended health consequences of different aspects of Sweden’s parental leave policy. Specifically, the research team aims to evaluate the potentially adverse health consequences that may be derived from 1) the speed premium supplement, provided to parents who have children in quick succession (i.e., 30 months’ spacing between births) to compensate for reduced benefits that result from parents’ receipt of an allowance from the first child; 2) the introduction and expansion of parental leave days exclusively reserved for the father (the so-called Daddy quota); and 3) the strong work requirement for paid parental leave eligibility (of at least 8 months in employment before childbirth), which excludes or is less beneficial for groups with a less secure labour market attachment, such as students, migrants or those who have suffered from illness.

Particular focus will be placed on the examination of mental health and reproductive health, which are likely to be most affected by parental leave policies. This project will be conducted by an interdisciplinary team that includes social epidemiologists, demographers, and sociologists. A variety of advanced statistical techniques will be employed, including survival analysis and sibling analysis, as well as triple difference methods that explicitly evaluate policy reforms. This project will contribute necessary and much needed knowledge to inform ongoing debates on parental leave reform.

Project information

Project members

• Sol P. Juárez, Principal Investigator
• Helena Honkaniemi
• Amy Heshmati
• Andrea Dunlavy
• Enrico Debiasi
• Anders Hjern
• Mikael Rostila
• Eleonora Mussino
• Srinivasa Vittal Katikireddi
• Ann-Zofie Duvander

Project period

2019-2025

Project funder

VR

Publications

1. Heshmati, A., Honkaniemi, H., & Juárez, SP. (2026). The Swedish welfare state under threat: new rules, new inequalities. The Lancet Regional Health – Europe, 65:101692 
2. Heshmati, A. F. (2025). Designed for equity? Studies on parental leave and the mental health of parents (Doctoral dissertation, Karolinska Institutet).
3. Heshmati, A., Honkaniemi, H., Fritzell, S., & Juárez, S. P. (2025). Parental Leave Benefits and Maternal Postpartum Mental Health in Sweden. JAMA Network Open, 8(4), e258062-e258062.
4. Heshmati, A., Dunlavy, A., Mussino, E., Fritzell, S., & Juárez, S. P. (2025). Health before pregnancy and eligibility for parental leave benefits: a Swedish total population cohort study. BMC Public Health, 25(1), 1045.
5. Debiasi, E., Honkaniemi, H., Aradhya, S., Hjern, A., Duvander, A. Z., & Juárez, S. P. (2024). Unintended perinatal health consequences associated with a Swedish family policy. JAMA Pediatrics, 178(6), 608-615.
6. Honkaniemi, H., & Juárez, S. P. (2024). Alcohol‐related morbidity and mortality by fathers’ parental leave: A quasi‐experimental study in Sweden. Addiction, 119(2), 301-310.
7. Heshmati, A., Honkaniemi, H., & Juárez, S. P. (2023). The effect of parental leave on parents’ mental health: a systematic review. The Lancet Public Health, 8(1), e57-e75.
8. Honkaniemi, H., Katikireddi, S. V., Rostila, M., & Juárez, S. P. (2022). Psychiatric consequences of a father’s leave policy by nativity: a quasi-experimental study in Sweden. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 76(4), 367-373.
9. Juárez, S. P., Honkaniemi, H., Heshmati, A. F., Debiasi, E., Dunlavy, A., Hjern, A., … & Duvander, A. Z. (2021). Unintended health consequences of Swedish parental leave policy (ParLeHealth): protocol for a quasi-experimental study. BMJ Open, 11(6), e049682.