Gendered Parenthood in the 21st Century? Everyday Time Use and Stress in Sweden, 2000/01-2010/11

This paper examines gender differences in everyday stress among parents in Sweden. Recently, maternal stress has become a public health concern. One of the explanations to why mothers more than fathers get stress-related diagnoses is the unequal division of labor at home. This paper investigates mothers’ and fathers’ time allocation and its association with everyday stress in Sweden, using time diary data from the 2000/01 and 2010/11 Swedish Time Use Survey (SWETUS), including self-reported stress on the diary day. Mothers were more likely to experience stress than fathers, especially during weekdays in 2010/11. Mothers’ excess everyday stress experiences during weekdays were partly due to their childcare responsibilities and that their time was fragmented. Differences between mothers and fathers were significant in 2010/11 but not in 2000/01.