Parenting Skills and Selection into Fatherhood

Lina Aldén () and Anne Boschini ()
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Lina Aldén: Department of Economics and Statistics, Linnaeus University
Anne Boschini: Swedish Institute for Social Research

No 9/2026, SOFI Working Papers in Labour Economics from Stockholm University, Swedish Institute for Social Research

Abstract: As women’s earnings have risen and parental leave policies expanded, social expectations for paternal involvement have grown, potentially shifting the basis of fatherhood from economic provision toward parenting skills. Using Swedish administrative data and a sibling fixed-effects design, we find that non-cognitive ability, a key dimension of parenting skills, has become a stronger predictor of fatherhood over time among men with comparable earnings and marital histories. Exploiting a 2002 reform that expanded reserved paternity leave, we further demonstrate that heightened expectations for paternal involvement amplified this selection.

Keywords: Men; fertility; ability; parenting skills; earnings; marriage; parental leave (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: J13 J14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 65 pages
Date: 2026-06-22
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hhs:sofile:2026_009

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