Parents' Gender Equality and Children's School Performance: A Registry Study from Sweden

Objectives: This study aimed at examining the association between 2 indicators of parents' gender equality, and children's school success (average grades from compulsory school) and school failure (not being eligible to high school). Methods: The population consisted of all Swedish parents and their firstborn child in 1988-89 (N = 118,595). The statistical method was multiple logistic regression. Results: Gender equality measured as the father's proportion of parental leave increased the chance of school success (ORs from 1.17 to 1.40) and decreased the risk of school failure (OR 0.83). Mother's proportion of parental income was solely associated with decreased risk of school failure (ORs 0.64, 0.69). Conclusions: Parents' gender equality generally benefits school performance, with stronger support for the "working father hypothesis" than the "working mother hypothesis."