Working time and caring strategies: parenthood in different welfare states

Boje, Thomas P.

doi:10.1332/policypress/9781861346452.003.0009

Cited by 5 publications

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“…Women with children tend to be less flexible than women without children except when we look at work time flexibility -see Table 4. This type 53 We find extremely low workplace flexibility among Swedish women, both mothers and non-mothers. One possible explanation might be that a large majority of Swedish women are employed in the public sector, which is characterised by relatively high job security even if the employees are on a non-standard employment contract.…”

Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…However, the burdens of caring for children and other members of the household are still very unevenly divided between men and women, which makes the conflicts between obligations at work and in the households significantly more troublesome for women than for men. 53 Looking at the actual working time patterns for men and women in the four countries analysed in this article we find at least two very different strategies in managing the work-caring conflicts. In both Scandinavian countries the rates of employment for women are high and the great majority of women are working full-time.…”

Section: Conclusion -From a Gendered To A Universal Caregiver System?mentioning

confidence: 90%

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Welfare and work. The gendered organisation of work and care in different European Countries

Boje¹

2007

EUR.REV.

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Modern societies are characterised by profound changes in both working conditions and family formation. Today's workplaces are marked by high flexibility, great job instability and variable working hours. A dual-earner family has replaced the traditional male-breadwinner family and the norm is two working adults. However, the pattern of women's involvement in employment differs in all labour markets depending on the gendered division of paid work, unpaid work and care obligations. These differences can be seen as the combined effect of the individual household strategies and the shape of family and labour market policies in the European welfare regimes. The article analyses household strategies in combining paid work, unpaid work and care in four European countries -Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The main conclusion is that the division of paid work, unpaid work as well as caring obligations is gendered in all four countries. Compared with women, men tend to be more flexible, have more secure positions in the labour market and seem to be more involved in unpaid voluntary activities and seem thus more integrated in the society and have a higher level of civic participation. On the other hand, today, an increasing number of women are fully active in the labour market and their level of participation in civic activities becomes more and more similar to men's. However, the burdens of caring for children and other members of the household are still very unevenly divided between men and women, which makes the conflicts between obligations at work and in the households significantly more troublesome for women than for men.

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Section: Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Conclusion -From a Gendered To A Universal Caregiver System?mentioning

confidence: 90%

Welfare and work. The gendered organisation of work and care in different European Countries

Boje¹

2007

EUR.REV.

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“…However, a women-friendly welfare state is often seen as one that enables women to enhance their employment and reduce their family responsibilities, whereas a father-friendly welfare state is one that enables men to reduce their employment and spend more time with their children. Comparative research shows that family policies such as generous parental leave schemes and affordable public childcare may soften the reducing effect of motherhood on women's employment (Boje, 2006;Gronick et al, 1998;Uunk et al, 2005). The conclusion is that 'policy matters', although it is not the only factor.…”

Section: Summary and Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Looking at cross-sectional data for Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, and the UK, Boje (2006) finds that for men, the presence of children increases the level of labour market participation in all four countries. Particularly in the Netherlands and the UK, the proportion of fathers working long hours is significantly higher than for non-fathers, whereas motherhood curtails women's working hours.…”

Section: Fatherhood and Employment á International Findingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Looking at contractual as well as actual working hours, we ask whether fatherhood affects men's working hours, and if so, whether children imply longer or shorter hours for fathers. Internationally, researchers often compare fathers and non-fathers (Boje, 2006;Dermott, 2006). At least in the Norwegian context, there is reason to believe that grouping all fathers into one single category masks certain 'fatherhood' effects.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Fathers' employment in a father-friendly welfare state: does fatherhood affect men's working hours?

Dommermuth

Kitter⊘d

2009

Community, Work & Family

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An important aim of Norwegian workÁfamily policies is to enhance the family role of fathers. Time-use surveys show a slight increase in fathers' family work, but we still know little about the relationship between men's family circumstances and working hours. On the one hand, policy measures encourage the greater involvement of fathers in family life. On the other hand, men are the main providers in most couples and employment and breadwinning are still important components of men's fathering identity. In this paper, we examine the relationship between fatherhood and working time, with a particular focus on the possible effects of the number and ages of children. Utilizing the Norwegian Labour Force Survey 2005, we find that men's contractual working hours are not significantly affected by their parental status, but men do curtail their actual working hours when they have young children, and particularly if there is only one child in the household. However, men with school-aged children actually work longer hours than non-fathers and men with young children.Un objectif important des politiques de conciliation entre vie professionnelle et vie familiale est de renforcer le rôle du père au sein de la famille. Des eunquêtes sur l'emploi du temps indiquent une légère augmentation du travail des pères dans la famille, mais nous ne savons encore que peu de choses sur la relation entre la situation familiale des hommes et le temps de travail. D'une part, les mesures politiques favorisent un engagement plus important des pères dans la vie familiale. D'autre part, les hommes apportent le salaire principal dans la plupart des ménages et le fait d'avoir un emploi et de nourrir les siens constitue encore un élément important de l'identité paternelle. A l'heure actuelle, nous étudions la relation entre la paternité et le temps de travail, en nous concentrant particulièrement sur les effets éventuels du nombre et de l'âge des enfants. En nous appuyant sur l'Enquête sur la main-d'oeuvre de 2005 en Norvège, nous constatons que le temps de travail contractuel des hommes n'est pas significativement affecté par leur status parental, mais les hommes ayant des enfants en bas âge réduisent leur temps de travail effectif, en particulier si le ménage n'a qu'un enfant. Cependant, les hommes qui ont des enfants en âge d'aller à l'école travaillent en réalité plus longtemps que ceux qui n'ont pas d'enfant ou qui ont des enfants en bas âge.

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Parenting, Gender and Work: A Sociological Perspective

Suwada

2021

Parenting and Work in Poland

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This chapter presents the issue of parenthood as a subject of sociological inquiry in the context of broader social and cultural changes. I demonstrate why parenthood should be perceived as a process that is strictly connected with social, cultural and institutional contexts. Keeping this in mind I argue that there is no one proper way of doing parenthood. The most important aspect here are the links between parenthood and paid work. I critically approach the concept of work/life balance that is vastly popular in contemporary social sciences, but in my opinion is not always adequate to describe parenting in a post-communist society. I propose to look at parenthood through the lenses of three types of work: care work, paid work and domestic work. I claim that such approach helps to grasp different ways of parenting in contemporary times, as well as to recognise persisting gender and economic inequalities.

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Working time and caring strategies: parenthood in different welfare states

Cited by 5 publications

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Welfare and work. The gendered organisation of work and care in different European Countries

Welfare and work. The gendered organisation of work and care in different European Countries

Fathers' employment in a father-friendly welfare state: does fatherhood affect men's working hours?

Parenting, Gender and Work: A Sociological Perspective

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