Increased gender equality in the labor market and the home are both cited as stabilizers to income inequality between households, but shifts in the economic organization of families over the life course instead appear to amplify household income inequality. Using the case of Sweden, where men have taken longer parental leave in recent years and the age at parenthood continues to advance, we analyze between‐family income inequality for couples with a young child. Based on income data from population registers, we decompose how changes in family dynamics, pre‐ and postparenthood, contributed to income inequality in families with children between the years 1995 and 2018. Analyses show no evidence that assortative mating has increased and that a minor decline in inequality between couples over this 24‐year period resulted from two opposing trends: Dis‐equalizing changes related to women's postbirth income advancements were eclipsed by equalizing changes related to the postponement of parenthood. Postbirth income trends reveal how between‐family inequality increased through women's income development and decreased through men's. Our findings confirm the importance of family processes to household inequality and show the complex effects of both changes in the timing of parenthood and improved gender equality.

中文翻译：

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家庭动态如何影响有幼儿的家庭之间的收入不平等：瑞典案例，1995-2018


劳动力市场和家庭中性别平等的加强都被认为是家庭之间收入不平等的稳定因素，但家庭在生命历程中经济组织的转变似乎反而加剧了家庭收入不平等。以瑞典为例，近年来，该国男性休的育儿假越来越长，而且生育年龄不断提高，我们分析了有小孩的夫妇的家庭间收入不平等。根据人口登记的收入数据，我们分解了 1995 年至 2018 年间，家庭动态、生育前和生育后的变化如何导致有子女家庭的收入不平等。分析表明，没有证据表明选型交配有所增加，而且略有下降这 24 年期间，夫妻之间的不平等是由两种相反的趋势造成的：与妇女产后收入提高相关的不平等变化，被与推迟生育有关的平等变化所掩盖。出生后收入趋势揭示了家庭间的不平等如何通过女性收入的发展而增加，并通过男性收入的发展而减少。我们的研究结果证实了家庭进程对家庭不平等的重要性，并显示了为人父母时间的变化和性别平等改善的复杂影响。