Social differentials in speed-premium effects in childbearing in Sweden

In Sweden, parents receive a parental-leave allowance of a high percentage (currently 80%) of their pre-birth salary for about a year in connection with any birth. If they space their births sufficiently closely, they avoid a reduction in the allowance caused by any reduced income earned between the births. The gain is popularly called a “speed premiumâ€. In previous work we have shown that childbearing was sped up correspondingly. This is clear evidence of a causal effect of a policy change on childbearing behavior. In the present paper, we study how this change in behavior was adopted in various social strata of the Swedish population.