About me

I am a researcher at the Netherlands Interdisciplinary Demographic Institute (NIDI) and an associate professor in sociology at 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 examines how sexual minorities form families, the barriers they encounter, and the support systems that shape their journeys.

UPDATES

ERC Starting grant: QPATHS

6 Sept 2025 14:52

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. 

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Publication: Cash-for-care and the cost of parenthood.

1 Jul 2025 13:09

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.

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Publication: Splitting the penalty by taking turns? Same-sex mothers' earnings losses in Norway

6 Mar 2025 08:50

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?

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Jonge mannen hebben minder egalitaire publieke genderopvattingen dan jonge vrouwen

10 Jan 2025 13:15

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?

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New projects!

10 Jan 2025 13:07

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!

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Zweeds ouderschapsverlof blijft ongelijk verdeeld

12 Mar 2024 10:49

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.

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A Time of Great Change

20 Sept 2023 13:11

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.

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Beïnvloed speelgoed de studiekeuze van jongens en meiden?

1 Dec 2022 09:19

Kan speelgoed je studiekeuze kan beïnvloeden? In mijn optiek kan het kan een druppel zijn in een emmer van genderrolbevestigende gedragingen die kinderen meekrijgen, en die uiteindelijk hun studiekeuze beïnvloeden Meer weten? Lees het artikel "Spelend(er)wijs. De invloed van wetenschappelijk speelgoed" op de website van NEMO Kennislink. Interview door Judith Robbe. 

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Why do girls opt out of math in school?

25 Dec 2021 10:51

In school, girls in general outperform boys in math-related fields. But even when girls have a relatively higher ability in math, they more often choose other education trajectories. My study from puts a piece to the puzzle on why girls don’t seem to aim for the science and technology fields in their education and work careers.

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