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BACKGROUND The separate spheres, in which men dominate the public sphere of politics, arts, media, and wage work and women dominate the private sphere of unpaid production and caring, is a powerful configuration in much social theory (including Parsons, Becker, and Goode), which posited that with industrialization, family structures and activities would converge towards the nuclear family with strict gender roles. OBJECTIVE This paper examines the major trends unraveling the gender division of family support and care that reached its peak in the mid-20th century, often called the 'worker-carer' or the 'separate spheres' model, by comparing the experiences of Sweden and the United States. METHODS We use data that includes time series of macro-level demographic and economic indicators, together with cross-sectional data from censuses and time use surveys. RESULTS The unraveling of the separate spheres began with the increase in the labor force participation of married women and continues with the increase in men's involvement with their homes and children, but its foundations were laid in the 19th century, with industrialization. We show that despite short-term stalls, slowdowns, and even reverses, as well as huge differences in policy contexts, the overall picture of increasing gender sharing in family support and care is strongly taking shape in both countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sweden provides strong support for childbearing and parenthood, including generously subsidized medical, maternal, and child care, paid parental leave, and child allowances. In this context, attitudes towards parenthood are likely to have a particularly strong impact on the decision about whether and when to have children. We examine the links between first births and holding attitudes about children, not just of positive and negative attitudes, but also of ambivalence, namely those who both value children but also value the things that compete with parenthood for young adults' time and other resources. Our analysis shows, measuring attitudes before the transition to parenthood, that ambivalence about childbearing delays the transition to parenthood, but not nearly as much as holding purely negative attitudes. Further, reporting an ambivalent experience from the first child had no significant effect on further childbearing, which testifies to the strong two-child norm in Sweden. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reflexion by Westoff and Higgins (2009) in response to a study by Puur, Oláh, Tazi-Preve and Dorbritz (2008) has recently been published in this journal. Both articles address the relationship between men's gender attitudes and fertility across European countries, using different datasets and quite different measures of gender attitudes, and producing opposing results. Based on that, Westoff and Higgins suggest caution regarding accepting the conclusion of the Puur et al. analysis that increased equality might increase fertility. We respond to their arguments here by elaborating on the theoretical underpinnings of the claim presented in the original article and thus the importance of the differences of the measures of gender attitudes applied in the two studies (gender roles in the public vs. private spheres). With this contribution, we stress the need for further research and theorizing on the links between men's gender attitudes and fertility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Examines the effects of demographic change on the foundations of the family. Consequences for parenthood of the decline in fertility and mortality; Undermining of the father-child relationship with the increase in divorce and cohabitation; Employment of women; Men's choice to assume parental responsibility.