Medically certified sickness absence with insurance benefits in women with and without children.

"Conflicts of interest : None declared."

"Funding The Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research (grant no 2004-1101) approved by the regional research ethics committee (Dnr: 2005/32-31). Conflicts of interest: None declared. Key pointsFemale employees in Europe have a high level of sickness absence causing high societal expenses.There is no consensus about the impact of combined work and parenthood on sickness absence in women and it is unclear to what extent an effect of having children might be dependent on demographic and socio-economic conditions.This population study of Swedish women in the age group of 20–43 years of age show that having children in the home increases the risk of sickness absence, particularly among young women and lone women and that an association seems to be valid in most socio-economic strata.Governmental policy makers and employers should aim at increasing economic and total workload equality not only between men and women, but also among women with particular attention to family composition."