Kay Hymowitz points to Sweden:
[T]he very family policies that make it easier for women to combine work and family discourage them from pursuing career Olympus. In a paper called "Is There a Glass Ceiling in Sweden?," James Albrecht and colleagues speculate that the country’s maternal benefits are so generous that they "may discourage strong career commitment" by women.
The paper also points out that Sweden’s liberal wage policies, elevating incomes at the bottom of society, make it prohibitively expensive for many ambitious mothers—and mothers still do most of the child care, even in Sweden—to hire outside help during hours when day-care centers are closed. In many countries, including the United States, professional-class dual-income families have become dependent on cheap immigrant labor to mind the kids and clean the house; researchers Patricia Cortés and José Tessada trace the increase in the work hours of highly educated American women to the 1990s, when immigration pushed down the cost of household services. The Swedish welfare state may reduce income inequality, but one consequence may be fewer women at the top.
The Dish 