What can same-sex couples teach us about the economic consequences of separation for women?
We know that women experience larger economic consequences of separation than men. Same-sex couples help shed light on why this is the case.
About me
I am an associate professor at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and the Swedish Institute for Social Research (SOFI). I study the work and family life of parents in queer and adoptive families (funded by RJ) and life course trajectories of male and female same-sex couples in Finland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden and the Netherlands (VENI grant; Dutch Research Council). In 2025, I was awarded an ERC Starting Grant for my project Queer Pathways to Parenthood (QPATHS), which will examine how sexual minorities form families, the barriers they encounter, and the support systems that shape their journeys.
UPDATES
Same-Sex Parents in the Netherlands
In collaboration with Statistics Netherlands (CBS), we published an article on the demography of same-sex parents in the Netherlands. In the year that marks 25 years of same-sex marriage in the Netherlands, this topic is particularly timely. Some key highlights:
Postdoc QPATHS
Postdoc opportunity!Join my ERC-funded project Queer Pathways to Parenthood (QPATHS), exploring family formation among sexual minorities.We are looking for a postdoctoral researcher to contribute to this project at NIDI-KNAW in The Hague. Interested? Full details here:https://vacatures.knaw.nl/job/The-Hague-Postdoc-position-on-family-formation-among-sexual-minorities-at-NIDIKNAW/1347293855/ Feel free to reach out if you have any questions.The PhD position is still open until the end of this week.
PhD position QPATHS
🌈 PhD opportunity
ERC Starting grant: QPATHS
Honored to receive a Starting Grant from the European Research Council (ERC) for my project QPATHS: Queer Pathways to Parenthood! With QPATHS, I will spend the next five years exploring how sexual minorities build their families, the barriers they face, and the support systems that help them achieve their family goals. Despite growing acceptance and expanded legal rights for sexual minorities, major inequalities remain in the path to parenthood. By combining unique population-level data from five countries with the first large-scale longitudinal survey of its kind, QPATHS will deliver a groundbreaking framework for understanding family formation among sexual minorities — research that is especially urgent in a time of shifting realities for LGBTQ+ rights. More information will soon be published here.
Publication: Cash-for-care and the cost of parenthood.
We wanted to understand why parents use Finland’s “cash-for-care” benefit in such gendered ways. This program gives money to parents of young children (under age 3) who don’t use public daycare. While helpful for some, it often leads to reduced earnings—especially for women.
Publication: Stimulating (In) equality? The Earnings Penalty in Different-Sex and Female Same-Sex Couples Transitioning to Parenthood in Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden
Article out in American Journal of Sociology, joint work with Marie Evertsson and Ylva Moberg:
Publication: Splitting the penalty by taking turns? Same-sex mothers' earnings losses in Norway
Mothers typically face earnings losses after having children, also known as the child penalty. However, research has shown that female same-sex couples experience smaller child penalties. Female same-sex couples have a unique advantage when it comes to the child penalty: they can split it by taking turns being the birth mother. But is that the reason for their lower penalty?
Jonge mannen hebben minder egalitaire publieke genderopvattingen dan jonge vrouwen
Uit ons onderzoek, uitgevoerd samen met Daniël van Wijk en Aart Liefbroer, blijkt dat jonge mannen en vrouwen (15-29 jaar) sterker verschillen in hun opvattingen over gelijkheid in publieke genderrollen dan oudere mannen en vrouwen (30+). Zo zien jonge mannen minder voordelen van een gelijke genderverdeling in politieke en economische topfuncties dan jonge vrouwen, en zijn zij minder vaak voorstander van wetgeving die het aantal parlementaire zetels gelijk verdeelt tussen beide geslachten. Daarentegen zijn sekseverschillen in opvattingen over genderrollen in het gezinsleven kleiner en verschillen ze weinig tussen jongeren en ouderen. Vinden jonge mannen de groeiende rol van vrouwen in het publieke domein spannend, maar thuis wel prima?
New projects!
Excited to share that two projects have received funding!The first has been funded by the Royal Swedish Acadamy of Sciences (KVA) (97,634 SEK, €8,500) to utilize register data for studying the work and family life of male couples and multiparent families. This project, in collaboration with Ylva Moberg, addresses topics that are both timely and significant, and I am very enthusiastic about exploring these important questions.The second is a project funded by the Institute for Evaluation of Labour Market and Education Policy (IFAU) (922,209 SEK, €80,000) to study parenthood and the gender gap in health and sick leave, led by Ylva as the principal investigator. I’m excited to be part of this project and explore important questions about health and family dynamics.Exciting times ahead - looking forward to sharing insights as we move forward!
Zweeds ouderschapsverlof blijft ongelijk verdeeld
Na de geboorte van een kind nemen vrouwen doorgaans het leeuwendeel van de zorg op zich, zelfs in Zweden, een land dat bekend staat om zijn gelijke taakverdeling. Dit draagt bij aan genderongelijkheid en heeft negatieve gevolgen voor de loopbanen van vrouwen. Samen met Ylva Moberg heb ik de oorzaken van deze ongelijke taakverdeling onderzocht, nu te lezen in de Demos.
A Time of Great Change
Together with dr Laia Sánchez Guerrero and prof. dr. Pia Schober, we studied how adolescents adapt their gender attitudes to their friends, classmates and/or parents.