SHIC - New parenthood survey

The City of Gothenburg is currently working to improve its services for parents and children. To be able to provide the right kind of support, more knowledge is needed about how parents experience parenthood.

In this effort, the City of Gothenburg is collaborating with RISE to develop and analyse a new survey on parenthood. The work builds on a previous collaboration between the City and RISE concerning economic modeling of the parenting support program “ABC” as a crime prevention measure. That project raised questions about the need for parenting support among Gothenburg’s residents and how the City can best reach parents with its support.

RISE has previously, on behalf of The Family Law and Parental Support Authority (MFoF), carried out a study on what an appropriate structure for monitoring parenting support might look like, and what indicators and measurement tools such a structure could include. The study resulted in a report showing that, as of today, there is a lack of scientifically validated surveys on parenthood in Sweden with sufficient reliability and validity.

Based on the need for greater insight into parenthood and the need for parental support, a new survey is now being conducted. The responses will provide a foundation for the future development of parenting support in Gothenburg. The survey questions have been developed by researchers at Karolinska Institutet, Uppsala University, and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden.

A random selection of parents with children aged 0–18 will be invited to respond to the survey, which will run during autumn 2025. RISE and the City of Gothenburg will compile and analyze the results and findings from the survey will be presented in early 2026.

Would you like to learn more about the City of Gothenburg’s support for parents? Please visit the City’s parenting support webpage for more information.

About the sample selection

Based on information from the Swedish Population Register, 10,000 parents living in Gothenburg have been randomly selected to be invited to participate in the survey. From the Population Register, certain background information about the parents is also collected, such as the area of the city in which they live and how many children they are legal guardians of.

The identities of the selected parents are kept separate from the survey responses, meaning that none of the researchers or analysts conducting the study will know which individual has provided which response. Once the survey is completed, all information that could identify participants will be deleted to ensure that it is impossible to link responses to any individual afterwards.