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Being able to balance work and family life is not only a personal question but a highly political one. The policy is used today and has historically been used as a political tool for achieving higher levels of gender equality. The parental insurance policy in Sweden is often atopic of debate, especially regarding the reserved months and whether to fully individualise the insurance. The purpose of the thesis was to analyse the goals of today’s design of the parental insurance, evaluate to what extent these goals are reached. The thesis also aimed to examine the debate about whether an individualized parental insurance would be a beneficial tool for achieving the political goals of parental insurance. By examining government documents on parental insurance, the results of the study will be discussed in relation to theories of feminist perspectives, New Public Management, goal and result management and welfare state theory. The empirical material consisting of various government publications, motions and debate articles was analysed with an evaluation method and argumentation analysis method. The result of this study showed that there are three main goals of the parental insurance none of which are fully met. The argumentation analysis showed three pro-arguments and 3 contra-arguments. The pro-arguments were deemed as being more scientifically based.