Social Inequality and Diversity of Families Working Report (April 2010)

In this state‐of‐art report we focus on some of the more relevant issues from the perspective of social inequality and families within and across European societies. We begin by addressing the three main topics included in this existential field by the Family Platform Project: migration, poverty, family violence. Additionally, we will look at two key issues which are important in contextualizing and discussing the above‐mentioned topics. First, we will summarize recent trends in social inequality in European societies. Secondly, we will review some of existing research on the relationship between social inequalities and families, by examining the impact of social inequality on family forms and dynamics as well as the transmission and reproduction of inequalities within families. Social inequality shapes family life, but families and their members must also be seen as actors in the system of inequality (transmitting inequalities to subsequent generations, reproducing them within the home and through their networks, and resisting the effects of inequality). Research review in this existential field was carried out separately on each of the abovementioned topics. Migration, poverty and family violence are large and autonomous fields of research which do not have common theoretical and methodological underpinnings or empirical data sets. For this report it was therefore important to grasp the major trends and findings within each research topic before moving on to broader conclusions on research into social inequalities and diversity of families in Europe.FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH‐2009‐3.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family policies): funded by the European Union’s 7th Framework Programme for 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011)

Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe Conference Report

This report was produced by FAMILYPLATFORM. FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH-2009-3.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family policies) is funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (€1,400,000) and has a duration of 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011). The consortium consists of the following 12 organisations: 1) Technical University Dortmund (Coordinators); 2) State Institute for Family Research, University of Bamberg; 3) Family Research Centre, University of Jyväskylä; 4) Austrian Institute for Family Studies, University of Vienna; 5) Demographic Research Institute, Budapest; 6) Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon; 7) Department of Sociology and Social research, University of Milan-Bicocca; 8) Institute of International and Social Studies, Tallinn University; 9) London School of Economics; 10) Confederation of Family Organisations in the European Union (COFACE), Brussels; 11) Forum delle Associazioni Familiari, Italy; 12) Mouvement Mondial des Mères, Brussels; Contact [email protected] or visit http://www.familyplatform.eu for more information.The aim of this Critical Review Report is to describe and report on the international conference "Families and Family Policies in Europe - A Critical Review", wich took place in Lisbon, at the Institute for Social Sciences (University of Lisbon), in May 2010. Organized by FAMILYPLATFORM consortium, the main objective of this 3 day conference was to carry out a critical review of existing research on families and family policies in Europe. Drawing on expert reviews of the state of the art, critical statements by stakeholders and policy makers, and debate on the major challenges for research and policies, the conference was organized with a view to providing a major forum for discussing and identifying the design of future family policies and research.FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH 2009.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family  policies):  funded  by  the  European  Unions 7th Framework Programme for 18 months (October 2009 – March 2011)

Leave policies in Southern Europe: continuities and changes

This contribution addresses the challenge of reviewing Southern European welfare states by analysing how developments in leave policies are generating common or divergent trends across Portugal, Spain, Italy and Greece. These societies offer a mixture of family patterns and family policies. Over the last decade they have developed significant work–family arrangements both in terms of parental leave and early education childcare services. The four countries have been moving in the direction of longer paid leave and the promotion of paternal leave, allowing for family diversity and new gender-equality incentives. Besides these common trends, the four countries also reveal differences enabling them to shift towards alternative leave models, such as the one-year gender-equality-oriented model or the choice-oriented leave model. However, for the time being, taking into account take-up rates and the impact of the economic crisis, the four countries conform to what we have characterised as an ‘extensible early return to work’ leave model. Leave policies are reviewed in Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain mainly between 2004 and 2014, drawing on data from the Annual Reviews of the Leave Policies and Research Network, Eurostat and the OECD Family Database.En este artículo se aborda el reto de examinar los estados de bienestar del Sur de Europa, mediante el análisis del desarrollo de las políticas de licencias parentales en Portugal, España, Italia y Grecia. Estas sociedades ofrecen una combinación de modelos familiares y de articulación entre vida laboral y familiar. En la última década se han desarrollado significativamente los usos y políticas tanto de licencias parentales como de servicios de atención y educación infantil. Los cuatro países han experimentado una extensión de los periodos de licencia parental retribuida y del uso paterno de estos dispositivos, generando nuevos incentivos para la igualdad de género. Además de estas tendencias comunes, los cuatro países revelan importantes diferencias entre ellos, que les permitirían evolucionar hacia modelos alternativos de políticas de licencias parentales, tales como el ‘modelo de un año de licencia parental bien retribuida orientado a la igualdad de género’, o el ‘modelo de licencia parental orientado a la elección entre distintos modos de crianza’. Sin embargo, dado el impacto de la crisis económica y el uso de las licencias parentales, de momento los cuatro países se ajustan a lo que hemos caracterizado como ‘modelo de licencia parental extensible orientado a la pronta reincorporación al trabajo’, dotando a los progenitores de más opciones para alargar las licencias parentales ya sea a tiempo completo o parcial. Se analiza la evolución de las licencias parentales en Grecia, Italia, Portugal y España, principalmente entre 2004 y 2014, a partir de los Anuarios de la Red internacional de Investigación sobre Políticas de Licencias Parentales, datos de Eurostat y de la base de datos sobre Familia de la OCDE

Portuguese Report The Economic Crisis and Policy Developments in Portugal

The economic crisis has introduced major changes in family policies in Portugal, in particular since 2010. There has been a move away from an explicit pro-family, pro-egalitarian and pro-natalist perspective focusing on the strengthening of support for families at the level of services, cash benefits and leave schemes, towards a more implicit and residual policy perspective underlining support for very poor families and a move away from state responsibility for families in general, also encouraging the non-governmental sector and families themselves to act as the “front-line” of support. Families have been more affected by increased selectivity and reductions in cash benefits, whereas policies concerning leave entitlements and services have suffered less change

Changes in Family Policies since 2010: Country Overview Portugal

Historically, and well into the 20th century, Portugal’s pathway is linked to the male breadwinner model and to a rudimentary and familialistic welfare state underlining women’s role as primary caregivers and low state support for families. Family policies after the transition to democracy (1974) rejected unsupported familialism and introduced an explicit focus on state responsibilities to support a gender-equality oriented dual-earner model, leading to a gradual but steady increase in entitlements to family benefits and paid leave schemes, in public and publicly-subsidized services for young children and in gender equality incentives (Wall, 2011). Family policies shifted toward a “mixed” welfare state model focusing on family care supported by services and benefits and underlining a specific “solidarity” welfare mix in which different actors - families, public, private profit and non-profit institutions - take on responsibility jointly (Wall, Samitca and Correia, 2013)

Trabalhar e cuidar de um idoso dependente: problemas e soluções

A presente comunicação insere-se na problemática geral da conciliação entre a vida familiar e a vida profissional, centrando-se mais concretamente nas soluções de prestação de cuidados a idosos dependentes enquanto meios de conciliação entre o trabalho pago e os cuidados a estes últimos.A problemática geral da conciliação trabalho-família tem vindo a suscitar um interesse crescente tanto junto dos governantes como junto dos investigadores no domínio das ciências sociais. Ao nível político, desde os anos 80 que a U.E. emana recomendações e directivas relacionadas com esta problemática. Contudo, apesar de o tema dos cuidados aos idosos estar cada vez mais presente nas agendas políticas da U.E. e dos seus países membros (devido essencialmente ao problema do envelhecimento gradual da população), as “políticas de conciliação trabalho/família” têm-se direccionado sobretudo para os trabalhadores com crianças dependentes a cargo. Daí o maior desenvolvimento destas políticas no domínio dos cuidados às crianças do que no domínio dos cuidados aos idosos

Critical Review of Research on Families and Family Policies in Europe

FAMILYPLATFORM’s aim was to develop and publish a European Research Agenda for Research on Families and Family Policy, in order to enable policy makers and others to respond to current and future challenges facing families. Four concrete steps were taken towards elaborating the Research Agenda: 1. Charting the contemporary field of research on families and family policy in the EU. 2. Critically reviewing existing research involving a wide range of stakeholders. 3. An innovative exercise to identify future challenges facing families, so as to highlight future policy issues and develop questions for future research. 4. Bringing together all of the work into a Research Agenda on Families and Family Wellbeing for Europe. Each of these areas has a dedicated chapter in this book, presenting the main results and findings of this work. More than 120 civil society representatives, policy makers, and scientific experts were involved in the work of FAMILYPLATFORM. The sharing and negotiating of sometimes contradictory perspectives and thoughts was an exciting challenge for everyone involved, resulting in a great deal of shared learning. We hope that this book passes on some of these rich experiences, thereby improving the wellbeing of families in Europe through research and policy.FAMILYPLATFORM (SSH-2009-3.2.2 Social platform on research for families and family policies) is funded by the EU’s 7th Framework Programme (€1,400,000) for 18 months (October 2009-March 2011)

Policy Brief II. Men and Parental Leaves: Legal Framework, Attitudes and Practices

info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

WP3 Care arrangements in multi-career families National report: Portugal

The division of labour within the family and the behaviour of families in relation to the labour market have changed significantly in Portugal over the last few decades. Of particular importance have been the increased labour force participation of women, especially of married women and those with young children, and the rise in women’s levels of educational attainment.. Women (aged 15-64) as a proportion of the total labour force rose rapidly from 18.3% in 1960 to 52.8% in 1991,and 62% in 1998.European Commissio

Fathers on Leave Alone: Does It Make a Difference to Their Lives?

Over the last two decades there has been a continuing enhancement of fathers’ leave entitlements. Depending on eligibility criteria and type of leave, fathers may be on leave at the same time as the mother or alone. Despite these developments, little is known about men on leave in a “home alone” manner. The experiences of fathers were explored through a qualitative study using a purposive sample of fourteen Portuguese fathers who took leave alone for one month. Lived experiences are diverse but emphasize the specific impact of leave alone and six key processes: negotiating, caregiving, learning, bonding, undoing gender and experiencing emotions. From a policy perspective, findings suggest that there are differences between family time and father’s time alone