This article examines the fertility patterns of a growing group of parents – female same-sex couples (FSSC) with children – and through comparisons with mothers in different-sex couples (DSC) simultaneously examines mechanisms behind the earnings impact of motherhood. Using Norwegian population wide administrative records from 2002, when same-sex parenthood was legally recognized, until 2017, we find that FSSC's propensity to have children is heavily skewed toward the end of the period, that they more seldom have a second child, and that those who do switch birth parent for the second child in about 50% of cases. These patterns may partially be explained by barriers for FSSC to have (multiple) children, such as access to reproductive technologies being expensive, legally restricted, and geographically far in-between. Comparing the earnings losses of partners in FSSC where both partners gave birth, or where only one partner carried children, we conclude that the choice of birth mother of the first and second child have short term, but no long term, impacts on mothers’ earnings. Likewise, comparing non-birth mothers whose partner carried one versus two children, shows that an additional child to care for in the family did not affect earnings of the non-birth parent. However, when comparing mothers in FSSC to mothers in DSC that gave birth the same number of times, with the same number of children in the family, we find that having a male rather than a female partner is the mechanism that can explain most of women’s earnings losses after parenthood. Thus, our results indicate that gender norms of mothers as caregivers and fathers as breadwinners, indicated by the presence of a male partner, has a greater influence on long-term earnings losses compared to number of pregnancies and number of children, respectively.

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 to 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.

Despite considerable convergence, gender gaps in the labour market remain substantial across countries and can largely be attributed to the differential impact of parenthood on men and women. While family policies, such as childcare provision, have proven effective in enhancing maternal labour market outcomes in the short term, their impact on fathers' involvement in child-rearing remains less explored. Fathers' engagement is crucial for challenging traditional gender norms and narrowing long-term gender gaps. This study investigates how the availability of universal childcare affects fathers' early involvement in raising children and a more equal division of childcare responsibilities throughout early childhood. In particular, we are interested in the effect on fathers' parental leave-taking after birth and their subsequent involvement in parental childcare. For our analyses, we use data from the DJI Childcare Study (KiBS), providing annual individual-level information on childcare needs and arrangements throughout childhood, along with fathers' parental leave-taking and childcare rates from administrative data at the county level from the Federal Statistical Office of Germany.

The introduction of a legal claim in Germany in 2013 for publicly funded childcare for children below the age of three years created a quasi-experimental variation in the regional availability of childcare, as the speed of childcare expansion varied substantially across municipalities. Using this exogenous variation in childcare availability, we estimate a two-way fixed effects specification. Preliminary results indicate that a higher childcare rate in the year preceding birth leads to earlier childcare entry (below 18 months). Additionally, a higher pre-birth childcare rate significantly increases fathers' uptake of parental leave. However, this increase in paternal leave-taking does not translate into higher involvement of fathers in parental childcare in the short term. Our analyses shed light on the interplay between various family policies and consider paternal behaviour within family dynamics.

Despite improvements, European LGBQ populations (sexual minorities) continue to face structural obstacles, interpersonal discrimination, and social norms opposing family formation. During the more than 25 years that same-sex partnerships have been legal in Sweden, policy protections for parenting in same-sex couples have slowly strengthened. For example, adoption protections have been strengthened for nonbiological same-sex parents, and female same-sex couples have gained access to in vitro fertilization. How has the sociodemographic composition of people in parenting same-sex couples changed during this time? We use administrative data from Swedish population registers covering the period 1996-2021. Analyses document historical changes in the sociodemographic characteristics of Swedes aged 20-60 who are in same-sex unions and living with at least one child, compared to those in childless same-sex unions and to those in different-sex unions who are and are not parenting. Our preliminary analyses have found that gender differences in parenthood within same-sex couples are increasingly stratifying same-sex marriage by gender, parental status, and socioeconomic status. As of 2021 a majority of female same-sex unions now involve parenting at least one child, in stark contrast to male same-sex couples. In recent years, people in parenting same-sex couples no longer tend to have had a previous marriage. For both women and men and increasingly over time, those in same-sex unions who are parenting have higher socioeconomic status than those in childless same-sex unions. Emerging trends over time, in tandem with substantial policy changes for same-sex families, point to new patterns in childbearing and parenting among female and male same-sex couples in Sweden.