Sociology and Studies of Gender, Caregiving, and Inequality

Oliker, Stacey J.

doi:10.1111/j.1751-9020.2011.00417.x

Cited by 19 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 71 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…This is why, instead of bargaining for leave time, participants deliberated about the “right way” to divide it. More powerful than any material or social resources buttressing a man's bid for more time at home was the moral weight of motherhood (DeVault ; Oliker ; Walzer ). Thus extending fathers’ leaves beyond three to four months “made sense” only when both spouses were committed to sharing, or if a woman's career drew her back to work before the first year was over.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet this pattern largely reflects fathers’ use of individual entitlements and thus offers little insight into how couples come to share official leave time. If the division of care work at home is critical for imagining a future of gender equality, then research on the processes by which fathers become more involved in care giving is key (Oliker ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Yet the default association of mothers as primary parents commonly referenced by participants and the discomfort some couples experienced with unconventional arrangements indicate that men's leave‐taking does not simply neutralize gendered norms. Cultural schemas shape the weight that individuals’ beliefs and resources assume in interactions between partners (Oliker ). Although government or workplace incentives can help draw more men into leave‐taking, increased exposure to fathers as competent and nurturing infant caregivers through public policy campaigns is necessary to disrupt the hegemony of maternal care giving that loomed large among participants.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Balancing the Scales: Negotiating Father's Parental Leave Use

Beglaubter

2017

Canadian Review of Sociology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Studying couples who shared parental leave presents the opportunity to explore decision-making processes that may challenge conventional care arrangement typical of early parenthood. Interviews with 33 Canadian heterosexual couples indicate gendered sticking points in the division of official leave time. Whether fathers took leave because of their personal desires or material circumstances, this study finds that men and women did not enter negotiations on a level playing field. Strong cultural support for mothers'-but not fathers'-time with baby tipped the scales toward maternal care giving, even when couples wanted to share parental leave. Nevertheless, financial considerations such as a man's topped-up pay or woman's career could lessen the weight of mothers' moral entitlement to the leave time by presenting couples with an alternative logic on which to base their decision making.

show abstract

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Balancing the Scales: Negotiating Father's Parental Leave Use

Beglaubter

2017

Canadian Review of Sociology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Although housework is an essential component of domestic labor and significant when examining gender equity, it has been argued that childcare is even more important to study (Bianchi et al ; Oliker ). Some types of housework (albeit not all) can at least temporarily be left undone or can be fit in around parents' work schedules.…”

Section: Empirical Research On Changes In Paid and Unpaid Labormentioning

confidence: 99%

Gender Differentiation in Paid and Unpaid Work during the Transition to Parenthood

Barnes

2015

Sociology Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The transition to parenthood may be especially difficult because relationships need to be largely reorganized to meet demanding new challenges. For scholars interested in gender inequality, the transition to parenthood is a critical time in which gender differentiation is generated by both economic and cultural forces. Although newly married childless couples tend to share both paid and unpaid labor rather equally, when men and women become parents, their patterns become increasingly differentiated by gender. Cultural beliefs that emphasize mothers as the primary parent and fathers as secondary reinforce unequal patterns in housework and childcare. Time availability models, bargaining perspectives, and gender theories all have been used to explain these patterns. Some changes that could help ease the transition to parenthood include expanding US parental leave policies, improving available childcare, adding f lexible work policies, and offering more couples-focused intervention programs. Although much is known about the topic, more research is needed for the literature to ref lect the new generation of global and diverse parents.It's not just that couples are startled by how the division of labor falls along gender lines, but they describe the change as if it were a mysterious virus they picked up when they were in the hospital having their baby; they don't seem to view their arrangements as choices they have made. (Cowan and Cowan 1992, 98)

show abstract

“…At the social structural level, individuals who have additional protected identities face similar challenges as a result, compounding the effects. For instance, women cluster in occupations and industries that are highly precarious (BLS Reports ; Hirsch, Macpherson, and Hardy ), and they are much more likely to assume elder care responsibilities than men (Anastas, Gibeau, and Larson ; Ettner ; Morel ; Oliker ).…”

Section: Evidence Of Employer‐side Barriersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Over the Hill, Under Siege: Labor Force Graying, Labor Market Pushes, and Consequences for Life Chances

Lassus

2015

Sociology Compass

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Interest in older workers has recently expanded due to concerns over labor force "graying." Research and policy on aging adults' labor market participation have, thus far, framed the decision to labor as one shaped solely by the desires and capacities of older workers themselves. This perspective fails to recognize how multiple employer-side barriers play a large role in defining -and limiting -available choices. In this review, I synthesize the multi-disciplinary literature on employer-side barriers to older workers' labor market participation. In particular, I identify and discuss individual-, meso-, and social structural-level barriers that uniquely affect this group, noting where gaps in understanding remain. I consider older workers primarily as a whole to demonstrate how age operates as a distinct, important identity; however, I also ref lect on how age overlaps with both other identities and cohort membership. Next, I brief ly consider the relationship between these employer-side barriers and aging adults' life chances, particularly in an era of austerity. Although I focus on the United States case, I also note key cross-national similarities and differences. Finally, ref lecting upon the foregoing review, I suggest that a redirection of public policy is necessary to effectively respond to this contemporary demographic shift.

show abstract

Sociology and Studies of Gender, Caregiving, and Inequality

Cited by 19 publications

References 71 publications

Balancing the Scales: Negotiating Father's Parental Leave Use

Balancing the Scales: Negotiating Father's Parental Leave Use

Gender Differentiation in Paid and Unpaid Work during the Transition to Parenthood

Over the Hill, Under Siege: Labor Force Graying, Labor Market Pushes, and Consequences for Life Chances

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About