Earnings Trajectories Around Parenthood: Male Same‐Sex Couples in Denmark, the Netherlands and Sweden

ABSTRACT Objective This study examines earnings trajectories of male same‐sex couples around the time they become parents in Denmark, the Netherlands, and Sweden: three forerunners in advancing same‐sex couples' legal rights but with different family policy frameworks. Background Research shows that parenthood increases within‐couple economic inequality for different‐sex couples, but less so for female same‐sex couples. Male same‐sex couples face unique circumstances when becoming parents, such as costly pathways to parenthood and the absence of gendered caregiving scripts. However, longitudinal and cross‐national evidence on their economic outcomes remains scarce. Method We analyzed comprehensive, harmonized administrative register data following 361 male same‐sex couples (91 Danish, 163 Dutch, 107 Swedish) who had a child between 2004 and 2019, tracking earnings from 3 years before to 5 years after parenthood. We examined joint earnings, within‐couple inequality (earnings share of secondary earner), and individual trajectories distinguishing partners by pre‐parenthood earning status and biological relatedness to the child. Results Male same‐sex couples maintained remarkably stable earnings patterns with minimal changes in within‐couple inequality and limited individual‐level changes. Neither pre‐parenthood earnings differences nor biological relatedness were linked to lasting specialization patterns. Conclusion Earnings losses and increased within‐couple inequality following parenthood are not inevitable but largely reflect gendered dynamics that are absent among male same‐sex couples. However, the egalitarian outcomes of male same‐sex couples occur within the context of high socioeconomic resources resulting from selective access to parenthood.