Diary versus questionnaire information on time spent on housework – The case of Norway

Information on housework-time is important for understanding the daily life organisation of different population groups, especially parents. However, time-use surveys, which are usually seen as the best method for capturing information on unpaid work, are very costly and are conducted rather rarely in Norway. Hence, we want to assess whether housework can be adequately measured by other methods. Internationally, a great deal of work has been undertaken in cross validating diaries and questionnaires. It is often found that questionnaires generate somewhat larger estimates for housework-time than diaries, but the reporting gap varies between groups of people. It is assumed that social desirability plays an important role so that people feeling pressures to do much housework overreport their contributions more than others. In Norway, the housewife role has nearly vanished, and people now rarely meet social prescriptions to do much housework. This might imply less over-reporting in questionnaires. The present paper compares estimates for housework-time from the diary-section and the questionnaire-section in the latest Norwegian Time Use Survey with particular focus on parents. Looking at all adults we find only modest differences in the time-estimates between the two methods, but the gap varies considerably between age groups.Time allocation, data collection and data estimation technology, housework, measuring time-use

Bringing Managers Back in: Support for Gender-Equality Measures in the Business Sector

The progression of gender balance in top positions at big corporations in Nordic countries has not lived up to the expectations. Inspired by studies emphasizing the crucial role of top management in gaining support for gender-equality measures to make changes happen, we set out to investigate what kind of policies top managers in Norway would prioritize to further gender balance in the executive ranks. We found that active recruitment policies receive the strongest support and quota and preferential-treatment policies the least support. We found clear similarities between men and women in the ranking of measures, although women generally indicated stronger support for most measures. We found no differences related to gender composition of the management group, but some differences across company types (subject to CBQ or not) were revealed. Although corporate-board quotas received the least support, there was no indication that these measures were strongly objected

Mødre med 1-2-åringer - mye sammen med barna?

Økonomiske analyser er tilgjengelige via www.ssb.noKontantstøtte for foreldre med barn i alderen 1-2 år ble innført i 1998/99. Jevnt over bruker mødre med så små barn mye tid på barna. Mødre som mottar kontantstøtte, bruker i gjennomsnitt åtte timer hver dag sammen med barna, om lag to timer mer enn mødre som ikke mottar kontantstøtte, men som har barn i barnehage på full tid. Vi kan imidlertid ikke si at det er mottak av kontantstøtte i seg selv som medfører mer samvær med barna. Forskjellen er dels knyttet til at de som mottar kontantstøtte ofte også har barn under ett år og dermed permisjon fra jobben. Dessuten har de flere barn i alt enn mødre som ikke mottar kontantstøtte, og de bruker mindre tid til lønnet arbeid

Foreldreskap på tvers av hushold. Ansvar og omsorg for barn blant foreldre som ikke bor sammen. Resultater fra Undersøkelsen om samvær og bidrag 2002

Dette er en gratis nettressurs. Ved bruk av materiale fra denne publikasjonen, vennligst oppgi Statistisk sentralbyrå som kilde.1. oktober 2003 ble det innført nye regler for beregning av barnebidrag. Høsten 2002 gjennomførte Statistisk sentralbyrå, på oppdrag fra Barne- og familiedepartementet, en utvalgsundersøkelse blant bidragsytere og bidragsmottakere, Undersøkelsen om samvær og bidrag 2002. Denne er et ledd i evalueringen av den nye bidragsordningen og skal gi et bilde av fordelingen av ansvar og omsorg for barn blant foreldre som ikke bor sammen, omtrent ett år før de nye bidragsreglene trådte i kraft. Undersøkelsen viser også foreldrenes økonomiske situasjon, men dette analyseres ikke i denne rapporten. Denne rapporten beskriver en del sider ved organiseringen av omsorgen for barna, slik som fordeling av foreldreansvar og daglig omsorg, omfanget av samvær mellom samværsforeldre og barn, samt foreldrenes vurderinger av samværsordningen. Foreldre som bor sammen med barna til daglig kalles her enslige foreldre, mens de som ikke bor sammen med barna til daglig, kalles for samværsforeldre. Utvalget var trukket slik at det omfatter par av foreldre til samme barn. Foreldrene ble bedt om å gi opplysninger for inntil tre barn. I denne rapporten analyseres opplysningene om det yngste barnet. Det bildet vi får av samværsforeldrenes ansvar og omsorg for barn de ikke bor sammen med, varierer noe med hvem vi spør. Stort sett beskriver samværsforeldrene seg som mer aktive og involverte enn hva de enslige foreldrene beskriver dem som. På en del områder får vi derfor litt forskjellige svarfordelinger avhengig av om vi ser på opplysningene fra enslige mødre eller samværsfedre, og fra enslige fedre eller samværsmødre. Ser vi alle foreldre i undersøkelsen under ett, oppgav vel halvparten at mor hadde foreldreansvaret for barnet, 42 prosent at foreldreansvaret var felles, og 4 prosent at far hadde foreldreansvaret alene. Det ser ut til å ha vært en svak økning i andelen med felles foreldreansvar siden 1996, da dette ble målt i en lignende undersøkelse. 84 prosent av foreldrene oppgav at barnet bodde fast hos mor, 7 prosent at det bodde fast hos far, og 8 prosent at barnet bodde like mye hos begge foreldre. Andelen med delt bosted ser ut til å ha økt noe siden 1996. Omtrent halvparten av foreldrene hadde inngått en samværsavtale. Nesten 70 prosent av disse hadde en ordning der barnet skulle være sammen med samværsforelderen minst åtte dager per måned. De fleste samværsforeldre har jevnlig kontakt med barn som de ikke bor sammen med, og noen ser barna ganske ofte. 89 prosent hadde vært sammen med barnet det siste året, og 77 prosent hadde vært sammen med barnet siste måned. I gjennomsnitt hadde samværsforeldrene vært sammen med barna 6,5 dager siste måned. 82 prosent oppgav at samværsforelderen hadde vært sammen med barnet i minst én ferie siste år, og 20 prosent oppgav at det hadde vært samvær i minst fem ferier

Enabling family policies, changing gender norms: increasing childcare and housework among Norwegian fathers from 1980–2010

publishedVersio

Combining Work and Pension in Norway: Gathering Information and Imagining the Future

The Norwegian pension system has provided unprecedented flexibility to combine work and pension drawing from the age of 62, and this has become a popular option. Using qualitative interviews with 28 older workers, we explore their information strategies and motivations. We find that many informants struggle to understand the various options and their consequences and use different strategies to shield themselves from insecurity: they downplay the issue or point to factors beyond their control. Two key motives for early pension take-up are the desire to secure the money for one’s family in the event of early death and to get the money while still vigorous. Informants typically imagine life after 80 as quiet and with fewer material demands. In conclusion, the analysis shows how adaptations to the flexible pension system are embedded in notions of ageing, institutional trust, and a newfound sense of ownership regarding one’s retirement savings

A typology of work-family arrangements among dual-earner couples in Norway

An important aim of Norwegian work-family policies is to promote a dual-earner, equal-sharing family model, but we do not really know how common this family type is. By means of a multinomial latent-class model we develop a typology of dual-earner couples with children based on the way the partners allocate paid and unpaid work between them. We estimate four classes. One fourth of the couples belong to the Neo-Traditional class, where the mother often works part time and shoulders the domestic duties, whereas the father works full time or long hours. The Gender-Equal Light type, which comprises one third of the couples, has a similar, but less extreme gender disparity of paid and unpaid duties. In the both the Generalized Gender-Equal type (23 percent) and the Specialized Gender-Equal type (18 percent) the partners share paid and unpaid work fairly equally between them, but the spouses specialize more in different family tasks in the latter than in the former type. An equal sharing of paid and unpaid work is most likely when the partners are well educated, both partners work regular hours and the father has public-sector employment. A neo-traditional practice is likely when the partners have less education, the mother has health problems, the father works in the private sector, and the partners work non-regular hours.This work was supported by the Norwegian Research Council

Bringing Managers Back in: Support for Gender-Equality Measures in the Business Sector

The progression of gender balance in top positions at big corporations in Nordic countries has not lived up to the expectations. Inspired by studies emphasizing the crucial role of top management in gaining support for gender-equality measures to make changes happen, we set out to investigate what kind of policies top managers in Norway would prioritize to further gender balance in the executive ranks. We found that active recruitment policies receive the strongest support and quota and preferential-treatment policies the least support. We found clear similarities between men and women in the ranking of measures, although women generally indicated stronger support for most measures. We found no differences related to gender composition of the management group, but some differences across company types (subject to CBQ or not) were revealed. Although corporate-board quotas received the least support, there was no indication that these measures were strongly objected

Does parenthood imply less specialization than before? Tales from the Norwegian time use surveys 1980-2010

The presence of children still tends to reinforce a traditional division of labour in couples in many countries. This paper explores possible changes in the relationship between parenthood and the division of labour in Norway from 1980 to 2010 – a period with reduced gender differences in time spent on paid and unpaid work and the implementation of several work-family policy reforms. Parenthood intensified a traditional division of labour less in 2010 than in 1980, but there was no linear time trend. In 1980, parents with children in all age groups had a more traditional division of labour than those with no resident children. In 2010, this was the case only for parents with very young children (0-1 years), and even for this group, the difference compared to people without resident children was more modest than previously. As for household work, the presence of children in most age groups still strengthened a traditional division of labour in 2010, although less so than before.Ministry of Children, Equality and Social InclusionpublishedVersio

Mobilising female labour market reserves: What promotes women’s transitions from part-time to full-time work?

Considering the high female part-time rates in Norway, one may envisage a sizeable additional labour supply if more part-time working women would switch to full time. In view of an ageing population and increased demand for labour in the future, we investigate this issue by studying married and cohabiting women’s transitions from part-time to full-time work based on panel data from 2003-2009. Contrary to evidence from other countries with well-established support for working mothers, we find that young children in the household still restrain Norwegian women’s mobility to full-time work. On the other hand, there is a strong trend of higher full-time transition rates over our study period, which may reflect a vast expansion of the day care sector with more and cheaper day care, as well as a booming economy. Part timers who work in typical female occupations such as nursing, and sales and services are also less likely to switch to full time. Whether this is a result of true preferences or constraints is difficult to say, but previous research suggest that involuntary part time may be substantial. Voluntariness may further be a matter of degree, and “chosen” part timers may also switch to full time if conditions were right