The economic crisis and changes in work-family arrangements in six European countries

Over the past decades, there has been a substantial increase in female labour force participation, and the number of dual-earner and female-earner households has risen throughout western countries. However, the recent economic crisis has caused large losses in employment for both women and men, potentially yielding unexpected consequences for the evolution of work\u2013family arrangements. This article carries out a comparative analysis of the relationship between the 2008/2009 economic crisis and work\u2013family arrangements in Europe. Using data for six countries from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions, this article fills a gap in the literature by addressing three issues: (1) whether work\u2013family arrangements have changed from before to after the beginning of the economic downturn in countries with different gender and welfare regimes (Germany, Greece, Spain, France, Sweden and the United Kingdom), (2) whether changes in work\u2013family arrangements have occurred at different levels of the social strata and (3) whether couples have moved from dual-earner to male- or female-breadwinner. The results indicate changes in work\u2013family arrangements in those countries worst hit by the economic crisis, Greece and Spain, where dual-earner and male-breadwinner households have decreased and no-earner and femalemain- earner households have increased. Moreover, the results show that in these two countries, all social strata \u2013 proxied through women\u2019s level of education \u2013 have been affected by the crisis. In contrast, only moderate changes in work\u2013family arrangements among all women can be observed in countries less hit by the economic downturn. The findings for the two southern European countries are troubling, as the increases in no-earner and female-breadwinner households point to worsening economic conditions throughout the population and to a halt in the process that for several decades had been leading to more equality in the distribution of employment between gender

The Best Is Yet to Come? Attitudes towards gender roles among adolescents in 36 countries

In the present article, we look at attitudes toward gender roles among young women and men in 36 countries with different levels of societal gender inequality. By applying multilevel models to data from the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009, the study contributes to our understanding of gender inequality by showing that (a) both young women and young men (in 8th grade; Mage = 14.39 years) display more gender-egalitarian attitudes in countries with higher levels of societal gender equality; (b) young women in all countries have more egalitarian attitudes toward gender roles than young men do, but (c) the gender gap in attitudes is more evident in more egalitarian contexts; and (d) a higher level of maternal education is associated with more gender-egalitarian attitudes among young women. In contrast, no statistically significant association emerges between maternal employment and young men\u2019s attitudes. Overall, the findings suggest that adolescents in different contexts are influenced by the dominant societal discourse on gender inequality, which they interiorize and display through their own attitudes toward gender roles. However, the findings also indicate that young women are more responsive to external cues than young men are. This result, coupled with the fact that young men in egalitarian contexts have not adopted gender-egalitarian attitudes to the same extent as young women, is concerning because it suggests a slowdown in the achievement of societal gender equality that is still far from being reache

The Relationship Between the Civic Engagement of Parents and Children : a Cross-National Analysis of 18 European Countries

Although previous research has suggested the existence of a positive association between the political activities of parents and children, little is known about other forms of civic engagement. In particular, the literature lacks an international comparative study on the intergenerational transmission of civic involvement. Using Bayesian multilevel models on data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) 2006 special module on social participation, this article tests hypotheses on the patterns of civic engagement of parents and children in 18 European countries with different political legacies. Our results show a positive association between the participation in associational activities of parents and children in all the considered countries, above and beyond individual and contextual characteristics. In particular, we do not find an evident East\u2013West gap in the socialization process, suggesting that the Communist past of Eastern and Central European countries has little influence on what can be considered a basic mechanism of civic learning

Maternal employment : enabling factors in context

Maternal employment is still below the overall EU recommended level of 60% in many European countries. Understanding the individual, household and contextual circumstances under which mothers of children of different ages are likely to be employed is crucial to develop strategies capable of increasing maternal employment. This article takes a comparative approach to investigating the characteristics associated with maternal employment in the presence of children aged 0\u20132, 3\u20135, 6\u20139 and 10\u201312 years. We model the probability of being employed full-time, parttime or being a homemaker using EU-SILC data (2004 to 2007) from Germany, Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom \u2013 four countries belonging to different gender and welfare regimes. The results indicate that individual and household characteristics are more relevant in determining mothers\u2019 employment in countries where the state is less supportive towards maternal employment: Italy and to a lesser extent Germany and the UK \u2013 for the period observed

Undoing Gender in Housework? Participation in Domestic Chores by Italian Fathers and Children of Different Ages

The present article questions whether and to what extent daughters and sons learn how to Bdo gender^ in housework in Italy, a country with low levels of societal gender equality. Using nationally representative time use survey data from Italy (Italian National Institute of Statistics, 2014, waves 2002\u20132003 and 2008\u20132009), where daily time use diaries are collected for entire households, logistic models investigate to what extent children (age 6\u201312), teenagers (age 13\u201319), and young adults (ages 20\u201325) participate in domestic chores and whether paternal involvement in housework (controlling for parental education and employment status) is positively associated with children\u2019s participation in domestic chores. The results indicate that daughters are more likely to engage in domestic chores than are sons at all ages and that the gender gap is wider among young adults and teenagers than among children. Moreover, although both sons and daughters are more likely to engage in housework if their father does so, the effect of paternal involvement is much stronger for sons than daughters. These patterns suggest that the learning of housework is a gendered process\u2014a finding that has important implications for the reproduction of gender inequalities in Italy and possibly elsewhere

Educational Gradients in Parents’ Child-Care Time Across Countries, 1965–2012

Parental time with children leads to posive child outcomes. Some studies have reported a posive educational gradient: More educated parents devote more time to children than other parents. Furthermore, some research finds that parental child care increased over time. Less certain is whether more educated parents increased their time more than less educated ones did, whether parenting trends for mothers and fathers are the same, and whether observed patterns characterize all Western countries or only some. Hypotheses inspired by theories of social diffusion, class differentiation, and ideologies of child rearing are tested with time-use data for 11 Western countries between 1965 and 2012. For both mothers and fathers, results indicated a widespread educational gradient and an increase in child-care time. In a number of countries, the posive educational gradient increased; nowhere was it dished. Thus, the advantages of intensive parenting continued to accrue to the well-educated elite

Attitudes towards parenthood, partnership and social rights for diverse families: Evidence from a pilot study in five countries

Attitudes toward the civil and social citizenship rights of individuals in diverse family forms are underresearched. We use cross-national data from a pilot study among students in Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands to explore cross-country differences in beliefs about partnership, parenthood, and social rights of same-sex couples vs. heterosexual couples or married vs. cohabiting couples. The results suggest a polarization in students' attitudes between countries that appear more traditional (i.e., Italy and Croatia) and less traditional (Spain and the Netherlands), where the rights of married heterosexual couples are privileged over other family forms more so than in nontraditional countries. Moreover, equality in social rights is generally more widely accepted than equality in civil rights, particularly in relationship to parenthood rights and in more traditional countries. We discuss the implications of these findings and the implications for further research in this underexplored area of attitudinal research

Teaching Tolerance in a Globalized World: Final Remarks

Each of the five empirical studies presented in this report aimed to identify factors and conditions that help schools and teachers to promote tolerance in a globalized world. Each study acknowledged the complex, hierarchical layers of explanatory mechanisms, while focusing on what could be learned from in-depth analysis of data collected by the International Association for the Evaluation ofEducational Achievement’s International Civic and Citizenship Education Study 2009. In this chapter, key findings are summarized, while acknowledging limitations and caveats, and avenues for further research are identified. The report findings also flag some potential implications for policymakers

Elliptical Galaxies and Bulges of Disk Galaxies: Summary of Progress and Outstanding Issues

This is the summary chapter of a review book on galaxy bulges. Bulge properties and formation histories are more varied than those of ellipticals. I emphasize two advances: 1 - "Classical bulges" are observationally indistinguishable from ellipticals, and like them, are thought to form by major galaxy mergers. "Disky pseudobulges" are diskier and more actively star-forming (except in S0s) than are ellipticals. Theys are products of the slow ("secular") evolution of galaxy disks: bars and other nonaxisymmetries move disk gas toward the center, where it starbursts and builds relatively flat, rapidly rotating components. This secular evolution is a new area of galaxy evolution work that complements hierarchical clustering. 2 - Disks of high-redshift galaxies are unstable to the formation of mass clumps that sink to the center and merge - an alternative channel for the formation of classical bulges. I review successes and unsolved problems in the formation of bulges+ellipticals and their coevolution (or not) with supermassive black holes. I present an observer's perspective on simulations of dark matter galaxy formation including baryons. I review how our picture of the quenching of star formation is becoming general and secure at redshifts z < 1. The biggest challenge is to produce realistic bulges+ellipticals and disks that overlap over a factor of 10**3 in mass but that differ from each other as observed over that whole range. Second, how does hierarchical clustering make so many giant, bulgeless galaxies in field but not cluster environments? I argue that we rely too much on AGN and star-formation feedback to solve these challenges.Comment: 46 pages, 10 postscript figures, accepted for publication in Galactic Bulges, ed. E. Laurikainen, R. F. Peletier, & D. A. Gadotti (New York: Springer), in press (2015

Company-level family policies: Who has access to it and what are some of its outcomes

Despite the increase in number of studies that examine the cross-national variation in the policy configuration that allow a better work-family integration, very few look beyond the national levels. It is also crucial to examine occupational level welfare since companies may restrict or expand the existing national level regulations, defining the “final availability” workers actual have towards various arrangements. In addition, companies may provide various additional arrangements through occupational policies which are not set out in the national level agreements that are crucial in addressing reconciliation needs of workers. This chapter examines what types of arrangements are provided at the company level to address work-family demands of workers. It further provides a synthesis of studies that examine both national level contexts and individual level characteristics that explain who gets access to company level family-friendly policies, which is linked to the possible outcomes of these policies