Changing gender and class relations in the wake of RUT and ROT usage

The Swedish RUT and ROT reforms, which allow tax deductions for outsourced household work and maintenance work have since their implementation – in 2007 and 2009 respectively – grown steadily both in terms of the number of individuals using the deductions and the cost they incur to the state. Yet, there is almost no research on the impacts for those who use the services.

This is noteworthy both given the gender equality ambition of the RUT reform and the fact that RUT and ROT deductions have become so popular.The purpose of the project is to generate theoretical and empirical knowledge on changing gender and class relations in the wake of RUT and ROT usage.

More specifically, the project will investigate the following themes: a) paid and unpaid work, b) gender-equal parenting, c) intergenerational care arrangements, 4) wellbeing, and 5) family formation.

Theoretically, the project will add to the discussions about paid and unpaid work and family sociology from gender and class perspectives.The project rests on a mixed-methods approach.

The quantitative analysis is based on the longitudinal integrated database for health insurance and labour market studies (LISA), the Social Insurance Agency, the National Patient Register, and yearly records from the Swedish Tax Agency.

In order to address the issue of causality in the statistical analyses, the project will deploy a difference-in-difference method comparing those who have used the RUT and ROT reduction with those who have not.

To further deepen the understanding of how couples and individuals attach meaning to, negotiate and arrange non-outsourced household work, including child and elderly care arrangements, the project has a qualitative component, consisting of semi-structured individual interviews with RUT and ROT-use family members, who will also be asked to keep diary logs.The project has policy relevance and cuts through three focus areas of Forte; working life, health and welfare.