Mothers and Fathers in Parliament: MP Parental Status and Family Gaps from a Global Perspective

Abstract

Studies of Western parliaments find women experience greater difficulty than men in combining parenting with a career in parliament. Is it the same worldwide? Addressing this issue, we compared the marital and parental status of legislators in 25 diverse parliaments around the world while theoretically exploring whether parliamentary family gaps are due to individual, family, institutional, societal or global-level conditions. Through a fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis, we find institutional- and societal-level factors matter. Namely, family gaps between men and women members of parliament (MPs) were narrower under conditions of higher female employment, women in parliamentary leadership and lower rates of child mortality. Thus, motherhood penalties for women MPs are likely to diminish with increases in women’s paid employment, better social welfare provisions and more women in parliamentary leadership positions. Our findings also point to the importance of public policies, parliamentary rules and critical actors in reducing time demands on parents who are MPs.

An election too far: Why do MPs leave politics before an election?

“…The studies highlight the higher level of conflict between private and public responsibilities among young women. Mothers are underrepresented relative to fathers in parliament because they feel their household responsibilities are more important (Campbell and Childs, 2014; Silbermann, 2015; Johansson Sevä and Oun, 2019; Joshi and Goehrung, 2021; McKay, 2011; Melanee and Bittner, 2017). This phenomenon could be explained by the grueling nature of the political agenda outside regular business hours (Campbell and Childs, 2014; McKay, 2011; Palmieri, 2018).…”

Kedung Gede Tourism Village Recovery Plan (Post Pandemi Covid-19)

“…Meanwhile, according to [8], rural tourism is tourism that consists of the overall rural experience, natural attractions, traditions, unique elements that can attract tourists. Meanwhile, according to [9], a tourist village is a rural area that has several special characteristics to become a tourist destination.…”

Substantive Representation of Women in Asian Parliaments

“…Such gendered role expectations may also contribute to public stereotypes that women are inferior to their male counterparts and therefore insufficiently qualified to serve as political representatives (e.g. Joshi 2021).…”

“…For example lower-income women (especially those with children) often shoulder a heavier care burden than elite and childless women and spend more time on unpaid household responsibilities as they cannot afford to hire servants (e.g. Heisig 2011;Joshi & Goehrung 2021). Are their interests well represented by elite women (or men) serving in parliament?…”

“…In Sri Lanka, Taiwan, and Indonesia, social attitudes were highlighted by MPs as primary obstacles to reform. The double burden placed on women to do extensive household duties in addition to the work required of them as political representatives in these countries and elsewhere in Asia makes it very difficult for many women, especially mothers of young children, to serve as parliamentarians (Joshi & Goehrung 2021). Other impediments to gender equality identified by MPs in Bangladesh included lack of discussions in parliament, lack of educational infrastructure, a patriarchal society with outdated social norms and customs, gender-based discrimination, and bureaucratic complexity.…”