Parental Leave policies, gender equity and family well being in Europe: a comparative perspective

Leave policies and the protection of working parents' rights have changed significantly in Europe during the last few decades. While policies introduced immediately after World War II were largely based on a male-breadwinner model, the post-1970s policies have recognised the increase in maternal employment, the growing diversity of work/family arrangements and working parents' needs for state support in caring for young children. Paid maternity leave and paid or unpaid parental leave are now available throughout Europe - Western, Central and Eastern - and policy developments have encouraged more gender-neutral leaves and longer periods of paid leave (Deven and Moss 2005)

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can we call it a revolution women the labour market and european policy

In the USA the change in women's role in the economy over the last quarter-century has been likened to 'a quiet revolution'. Can we also talk of a quiet 'revolution' in Europe? The present article addresses this question by reviewing key developments in women's labour market position at EU level over the last 20 years. Full integration of women in the labour market was a focal point of European Employment Strategy, based on the understanding that it is an essential ingredient of gender equality; but it recently lost priority in favour of human rights and anti-discrimination goals. Policy responses to the financial crisis accelerated this change in priorities together with the perception that men are the real losers of the crisis. However, a stock-taking of women's integration into the labour market at EU level shows that two large obstacles stand in the way of full integration: regional imbalances and the secondary earner question. Female employment recently outperformed male employment, but fiscal consolidation policies currently hinder advancement in countries like the so-called GIPSI group, where progress is needed most. Meanwhile differences with respect to men in pension income or total earnings remain high at around forty percent. Reconciliation policy at EU level – leave design and care service provisioning in particular – had not consistently helped rebalance the gender division of labour within households. It needs recasting for a truly revolutionary change in women's role in the economy to materialize

Women's job quality across family life stages: An analysis of female employees across 27 European countries

There is little empirical evidence on how working conditions affect women’s employment and fertility choices, despite a number of studies on the impact of individual-level and institutional factors. The article addresses this gap by examining how family life stages are related to particular aspects of job quality among employed women in 27 European countries. The central argument of the analysis is that high-quality jobs are conducive to both transitions to motherhood and employment after childbirth as women select into these roles. Accordingly, mothers of young children, if employed, are expected to have relatively better quality jobs. Four dimensions of job quality are considered: job security, career progression, working time and intrinsic job quality. The results indicate that mothers with young children are more likely to hold high-quality jobs than women at other life stages with respect to working time quality and job security, but with some variation across countries for job security. The findings highlight the importance of high-quality jobs for women’s fertility decisions and labour market attachment after childbirth, with implications for European employment policy

Childlessness in France

Even though the average age at first childbirth has been increasing and education and employment options for women have improved immensely in recent decades, in France, unlike in other European countries, these developments have not led to a major increase in childlessness. Birth rates remain high and the share of the population who are childless is among the lowest in western Europe. This article discusses the historical roots as well as the societal conditions, institutional regulations, and political decisions that may explain the low levels of childlessness in France. We also discuss differences in rates of childlessness by education and occupation. Using a large representative survey on family life that was conducted parallel to the French census in 2011, we study the fertility histories of men and women born between the 1920s and late 1970s. We find that while the differences in fertility by level of education seem to have declined, having a higher education is still an obstacle to parenthood for women. For men, having a low educational and occupational status is associated with a greater likelihood of being childless. A large part of the differences in rates of childlessness between social groups can be traced back to the men and women who have never lived in a couple relationship; thus, partnership status can be regarded as a decisive parameter of the extent of childlessness

A Reflection on Economic Uncertainty and Fertility in Europe: The Narrative Framework

none5openVignoli, Daniele; Guetto, Raffaele; Bazzani, Giacomo; Pirani, Elena; Minello, AlessandraVignoli, Daniele; Guetto, Raffaele; Bazzani, Giacomo; Pirani, Elena; Minello, Alessandr

The Effect of Gender Policies on Fertility: The Moderating Role of Education and Normative Context

In this paper, we aim to assess the extent to which individual-level completed fertility varies across contexts characterized by policies supporting different gender division of labor models. We examine key labor market and care policies that shape gender relations in households and in the public domain. We also consider the role of gender norms, which can act as both a moderator and a confounding factor for policy effects. We hypothesize that, by facilitating role compatibility and reducing the gendered costs of childrearing, policies that support gender equality lead to an increase in fertility levels and to a reduction in fertility differentials by the level of education. Using individual-level data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions for 16 countries, combined with country-level data, we analyze completed fertility through multilevel Poisson’s models. We find that the national level of childcare coverage is positively associated with fertility. Family allowances, prevalence of women’s part-time employment and length of paid leaves were also found to be positively associated with completed fertility, though the associations were not statistically significant. These variables show a significant positive pattern according to education. A high number of average working hours for men are negatively associated with completed fertility and show a strong negative pattern by educational level. The prevalence of gender-egalitarian norms is highly predictive of fertility levels, yet we found no consistent evidence of a weaker association of gender-equality policies in countries where egalitarian values are less prevalent

Resistance of thermally modified ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) wood under steam pressure against rot fungi, soil-inhabiting micro-organisms and termites

Thermal modification processes have been developed to increase the biological durability and dimensional stability of wood. The aim of this paper was to study the influence of ThermoWood® treatment intensity on improvement of wood decay resistance against soil-inhabiting micro-organisms, brown/white rots and termite exposures. All of the tests were carried out in the laboratory with two different complementary research materials. The main research material consisted of ash (Fraxinus excelsior L.) wood thermally modified at temperatures of 170, 200, 215 and 228 °C. The reference materials were untreated ash and beech wood for decay resistance tests, untreated ash wood for soil bed tests and untreated ash, beech and pine wood for termite resistance tests. An agar block test was used to determine the resistance to two brown-rot and two white-rot fungi according to CEN/TS 15083-1 directives. Durability against soil-inhabiting micro-organisms was determined following the CEN/TS 15083-2 directives, by measuring the weight loss, modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR) after incubation periods of 24, 32 and 90 weeks. Finally, Reticulitermes santonensis species was used for determining the termite attack resistance by non-choice screening tests, with a size sample adjustment according to EN 117 standard directives on control samples and on samples which have previously been exposed to soil bed test. Thermal modification increased the biological durability of all samples. However, high thermal modification temperature above 215 °C, represented by a wood mass loss (ML%) due to thermal degradation of 20%, was needed to reach resistance against decay comparable with the durability classes of ‘‘durable’’ or ‘‘very durable’’ in the soil bed test. The brown-rot and white-rot tests gave slightly better durability classes than the soil bed test. Whatever the heat treatment conditions are, thermally modified ash wood was not efficient against termite attack neither before nor after soft rot degradation