Parental well-being and childcare arrangements in the Nordic context

Our study investigated the parenthood gap in well-being and explored the role of childcare arrangements in addressing the possible gap in Finland, Norway, and Sweden. Although having children brings happiness to people’s lives, the “costs of parenthood” may negatively affect parents’ well-being. Prior research suggests that the availability and affordability of childcare services reduces the parenthood gap in well-being. Using the European Living Conditions Survey (EU-SILC) data from 2013 and 2018 (N=6 647), we tested whether parenthood and childcare arrangements among parents were associated with differences in five dimensions of well-being. Our analysis found evidence on a parenthood gap in well-being in the case of time use and partly for financial situation and personal relationships. In contrast, we found a positive association between having children and mothers’ well-being. The results revealed that despite the high overall gender equality in Nordic countries, parenthood continues to affect mothers’ well-being more than fathers’. Care arrangements did not play a role in parental well-being except in Finland, where caring for children at home was positively associated with financial and mental wellbeing. However, since the data were cross-sectional, temporal ordering or causal effects cannot be determined based on this study. Generally, it seems that while mothers of young children may experience financial stress and lack of free time, these costs of parenthood do not affect their overall life satisfaction.