Dual-Earner Couples with Children: Exploring the Relationship between the Parents’ Working Hours in the Context of Norwegian Work-Family Policy

Silje Vatne Pettersen, Statistics Norway

A more equal sharing of paid and unpaid labor between mothers and fathers has been an important objective in Norwegian work-family policy for decades. Mothers' participation in the labor force has increased substantially and more fathers share the parental leave and childcare with the mother. In this paper we wish to examine the relationship between the parents' working hours by following couples with children over time. Using a nationally representative panel survey conducted by Statistics Norway 1997-2002 our findings indicate that the mother adjusts her working hours to the age of the youngest child, while the father slightly adjusts his working hours to the mother's. Despite numerous government incentives and reforms to facilitate gender equality, it seems that the more equal sharing of labor observed at an aggregate level masks a more traditional division still present among couples with children.