Female breadwinner – Erwerbsentscheidungen von Frauen im Haushaltskontext
Nach wie vor ist die ungleiche Verteilung von Erwerbs- und Familienarbeit zwischen den Partnern der Regelfall. Traditionelle familiäre Arrangements werden dabei durch institutionelle Rahmenbedingungen bevorzugt. Die Folge ist, dass Frauen immer noch beruflich zurückstecken - auch wenn sie den Hauptteil des Haushaltseinkommens erarbeiten und damit die Rolle der Familienernährerin übernehmen.
Diese Infoplattform widmet sich den Bedingungen und Auswirkungen der Erwerbsentscheidung von Frauen sowie empirischen Studien, die sich mit der Arbeitsteilung der Partner im Haushaltskontext befassen.
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Literaturhinweis
Male and female selection effects on gender wage gaps in three countries (2024)
Elass, Kenza;Zitatform
Elass, Kenza (2024): Male and female selection effects on gender wage gaps in three countries. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 87. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2024.102506
Abstract
"A vast literature on gender wage gaps has examined the importance of selection into employment. However, most analyses have focused only on female labor force participation and gaps at the median. The Great Recession questions this approach because of the major shift in male employment that it implied. This paper uses the methodology proposed by Arellano and Bonhomme (2017) to estimate a quantile selection model over the period 2007–2018. Using a tax and benefit microsimulation model, I compute an instrument capturing both male and female decisions to participate in the labor market: the potential out-of-work income. Since my instrument is crucially determined by the welfare state, I consider three countries with notably different benefit systems – the UK, France and Finland. My results imply different selection patterns across countries and a sizeable male selection in France and the UK. Correction for selection bias lowers the gender wage gap and reveals a substantial glass ceiling with different magnitudes. Findings suggest that disparities between these countries are driven by occupational segregation and public spending on families." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2024 Elsevier) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Persistence in Gendering: Work-Family Policy in Britain since Beveridge (2023)
Zitatform
Chanfreau, Jenny (2023): The Persistence in Gendering: Work-Family Policy in Britain since Beveridge. In: Journal of Social Policy, Jg. 52, S. 981-998. DOI:10.1017/S0047279422000125
Abstract
"Understanding the historical policy pathways that have led to the constellation of policies that both reflect and shape the current gender order can reveal reasons for the persistence of gender inequality in paid work and unpaid family care. Bringing together existing research and policy critique with Carol Bacchi’s framework of policy as ‘gendering practices’, this paper focuses on the role of policy as a process that constructs and upholds an unequal gender order. The discussion traces how UK social policies have since the establishment of the post-war welfare state articulated and positioned gendered possibilities for combining paid work and childrearing, shaping gendered and classed work-family life courses. The analysis illustrates that British social policy has not been consistently committed to a more equal gender regime but instead maintained a heteronormative family ideal and thus, despite various policy changes, the gendering of ‘the worker’ and ‘the parent’ as conceptualised in UK policy has persisted over the last several decades." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
My mum is on strike! Social reproduction and the (emotional) labor of 'mothering work' in neoliberal Britain (2023)
Zitatform
English, Claire & Gareth Brown (2023): My mum is on strike! Social reproduction and the (emotional) labor of 'mothering work' in neoliberal Britain. In: Gender, work & organization, Jg. 30, H. 6, S. 1941-1959. DOI:10.1111/gwao.13027
Abstract
"This article will explore the ways mothers and carers use the term ‘emotional labor’ to describe the exhaustion and burnout associated with socially reproductive tasks, rather than the performance of affective labor in the workplace. Scholars of social reproduction theory claim that emotion is key to understanding the specificities of gendered alienation, yet it remains under‐theorised. This article seeks to understand how the emotional lives of carers have been transformed by neoliberal processes that have intensified labor both within and beyond the home. Drawing on interviews with participants from the 2019 ‘My Mum is on Strike’ stay and play event, alongside ethnographic insights from online mothering blogs, sometimes referred to as the ‘mamasphere’ (Wilson et al., 2017), this article seeks to contextualizethe experiences of carers who narrate their reproductive labor as emotional ‘work’. Given the conditions of neoliberal rationality and the marketization of society, where every ‘field of activity… and entity (whether public or private, whether person, business, or state) is understood as a market and governed as a firm’ (Brown, 2015), emotional labor and the associated gendered expectations may begin to ‘feel like’ work, and we argue that this is felt in a specific way by those carrying out mothering labor, warranting further academic investigation." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
A 'potential motherhood' penalty? A longitudinal analysis of the wage gap based on potential fertility in Germany and the United Kingdom (2023)
Zitatform
Zamberlan, Anna & Paolo Barbieri (2023): A 'potential motherhood' penalty? A longitudinal analysis of the wage gap based on potential fertility in Germany and the United Kingdom. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 39, H. 6, S. 920-934. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcad003
Abstract
"While labour market penalties related to motherhood are a widely studied topic, less is known about the implications of signalled potential fertility. We thus posed the question of whether potential fertility—operationalized as the likelihood that a childless woman will transition to motherhood depending on observed sociodemographic characteristics—is associated with a wage penalty and—if so—what the drivers of this wage gap are. We further tested theory-driven hypotheses about heterogeneity across institutional contexts (i.e. in Germany and the United Kingdom) and socio-economic classes. In so doing, we relied on SOEP, BHPS, and UKHLS panel data to construct a synthetic measure of potential fertility over the period from 1991 to 2017. We first explored the overall association between potential fertility and wages and found a wage gap to the disadvantage of potential mothers in both contexts, albeit with non-negligible heterogeneity across time and socio-economic classes. Subsequently, we selected the top and bottom quartiles of the distribution of potential fertility and performed a 2-fold decomposition of the wage differential between potential mothers and women who are less likely to transition to motherhood. The observed wage gap can mostly be explained by compositional differences in observed characteristics between the two groups of women, thereby leaving little room for explanations based on employer discrimination." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
How does intrahousehold bargaining power impact labor supply? European cross-country evidence (2004-2019) (2022)
Zitatform
Belloc, Ignacio, José Alberto Molina & Jorge Velilla (2022): How does intrahousehold bargaining power impact labor supply? European cross-country evidence (2004-2019). (GLO discussion paper / Global Labor Organization 1132), Essen, 35 S.
Abstract
"This paper analyzes how intrahousehold bargaining power impacts labor supply, for seventeen European countries. To that end, we estimate a collective model using the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions for the period 2004-2019, and we study the validity of several potential distribution factors; that is to say, variables that impact labor supply only through intrahousehold bargaining power. Results show some degree of heterogeneity in the responses of labor supply to intrahousehold bargaining power. Spouses' education and the age gap operate as distribution factors in central European countries, such as Austria, Belgium, France, Luxembourg, and Switzerland. On the other hand, in the Mediterranean South countries, the share of unearned income of the wife operates as a distribution factor in Italy, Portugal, and Spain, and in countries of Eastern Europe (Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, and Lithuania), the sex ratio, wives' non-labor income share, spouses' age and education gap, and the fertility rate all operate as distribution factors. In northern economies, such as Denmark and Estonia, we find evidence for share of unearned income, age gap, and fertility rate, while in islands, such as Ireland and the United Kingdom, the sex ratio, the share of unearned income, the age and education gap, and the fertility rate are suitable bargaining power variables. The results are consistent with theoretical sharing rules, and distribution factors that empower a given spouse are mainly positively correlated with increases in the share of income they attract from intrahousehold bargaining." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Caregiving Dads, Breadwinning Mums: Transforming Gender in Work and Childcare? (2022)
Zitatform
Gaunt, Ruth, Ana Jordan, Anna Tarrant, Nicola Chanamuto, Mariana Pinho & Agata Wezyk (2022): Caregiving Dads, Breadwinning Mums. Transforming Gender in Work and Childcare? 61 S.
Abstract
"This mixed methods study investigates opposite-sex couples who share childcare equally or reverse roles so that the father is the primary caregiver. Comparing these couples with traditional couples, the project will explore what exactly their work and care arrangements look like, and what effects these arrangements have on their well-being and relationship satisfaction. A new survey questionnaire will be distributed online to collect quantitative data on time investment and the allocation of tasks from samples of mothers and fathers of young children with either traditional family roles (male breadwinner, female caregiver), reversed roles (male caregiver, female breadwinner), or equal sharing arrangements. A novel aspect of the research is the consideration of the socio-psychological processes that may contribute to a decision to adopt non-gendered arrangements – for example, the survey will also measure respondents’ identities, ideologies, and implicit gender attitudes. In addition to the quantitative data, ten couples from each of the three sample groups will be recruited for an in-depth face-to-face interview, with the partners interviewed separately. Interviews will more fully uncover the complex dynamics involved in the construction and maintenance of different work and care arrangements, and further explore the facilitators and barriers to downplaying gender-based considerations in parenting arrangements. The findings will inform discussions on better ways to support fathers’ caring responsibilities through workplace policies and legislation around paternity and shared parental leave. Ultimately, this project seeks to identify the means to create more balanced, fulfilling lives for both men and women." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Double Trouble: Does Job Loss Lead to Union Dissolution and Vice Versa? (2021)
Zitatform
Anderson, Lewis R., Erzsébet Bukodi & Christiaan W. S. Monden (2021): Double Trouble: Does Job Loss Lead to Union Dissolution and Vice Versa? In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 37, H. 3, S. 379-398. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcaa060
Abstract
"A now-substantial literature claims that job loss and union dissolution (the end of a marriage or cohabiting relationship) each increase individuals' risk of the other, highlighting that major negative life events in the labour market and family can spill over across domains. We address three limitations of this research using UK data. First, these associations might arise from unmeasured factors which jointly predispose individuals to the two events. Second, the distinction between job loss (an event) and unemployment (the state it may lead to) has been neglected. Third, where the impact of unemployment has been considered, its duration has not. We simultaneously model both processes: does job loss (or being unemployed) lead to union dissolution, and does union dissolution (or being divorced/separated) lead to job loss? To investigate the role of unobserved, time-invariant confounders, we model the individual-specific effects as random variables allowed to correlate across the models for the two outcomes. Upon allowing such cross-process correlations, we find that job loss and union dissolution have modest and non-significant prospective associations with one another. We also find no support for a connection between being divorced/separated and subsequent job loss. Unemployment appears to increase risk of union dissolution; by attending to duration we uncover gender differences in this relationship." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Drivers of Participation Elasticities across Europe: Gender or Earner Role within the Household? (2021)
Zitatform
Bartels, Charlotte & Cortnie Shupe (2021): Drivers of Participation Elasticities across Europe: Gender or Earner Role within the Household? (DIW-Diskussionspapiere 1969), Berlin, 61 S.
Abstract
"We compute participation tax rates across the EU and find that work disincentives inherent in tax-benefit systems largely depend on household composition and the individual’s earner role within the household. We then estimate participation elasticities using an IV group estimator that enables us to investigate the responsiveness of individuals to work incentives. We contribute to the literature on heterogeneous elasticities by providing estimates for breadwinners and secondary earners separately, according to their potential earnings rather than gender. Our results show an average participation elasticity of 0.0-0.1 among breadwinners and 0.1-0.4 among secondary earners in the EU as well as a high degree of heterogeneity across countries." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
The Effects of Skill Regimes and Family Policies on the Gender Employment Gap (2021)
Zitatform
Kang, Ji Young (2021): The Effects of Skill Regimes and Family Policies on the Gender Employment Gap. In: Social Politics, Jg. 28, H. 2, S. 359-384. DOI:10.1093/sp/jxz054
Abstract
"Drawing on the literature of gendering varieties of capitalism, this study empirically tests whether skill regimes moderate the association between family policy and the gender employment gap. Using the Luxembourg Income Study for fifteen countries with multilevel analysis and various gender employment indicators, this study finds that general skill regimes are associated with a smaller gender employment gap in full-time jobs, high-skilled jobs, and in the private sector. The effects of parental leave vary significantly by skill regimes, suggesting that patterns of gender employment gap associated with parental leave differ by types of skill regimes." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Breadwinning or on the breadline? Female breadwinners' economic characteristics across 20 welfare states (2021)
Zitatform
Kowalewska, Helen & Agnese Vitali (2021): Breadwinning or on the breadline? Female breadwinners' economic characteristics across 20 welfare states. In: Journal of European Social Policy, Jg. 31, H. 2, S. 125-142. DOI:10.1177/0958928720971094
Abstract
"In analysing heterosexual couples’ work–family arrangements over time and space, the comparative social policy literature has settled on the framework of the ‘male-breadwinner’ versus the ‘dual-earner’ family. Yet, in assuming men in couple-families are (full-time) employed, this framework overlooks another work–family arrangement, which is the ‘female-breadwinner’ couple. Including female-breadwinner couples matters because of their growing prevalence and, as our analysis shows, greater economic vulnerability. We perform descriptive and regression analyses of Luxembourg Income Study microdata to compare household incomes for female-breadwinner couples and other couple-types across 20 industrialized countries. We then consider how labour earnings and benefit incomes vary for ‘pure’ breadwinner couples – comprising one wage-earner and one inactive/unemployed partner – according to the gender of the breadwinner. We find that pure female breadwinners have lower average individual earnings than male breadwinners, even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics and occupational and working-time differences. Furthermore, welfare systems across most countries are not working hard enough to compensate for the female breadwinner earnings penalty, including in social-democratic countries. Once controls are included in our regression models, it never happens that pure female breadwinners have higher disposable household incomes than pure male breadwinners. Thus, our study adds to a growing body of evidence showing that female-breadwinner families sit at the intersection of multiple disadvantages. In turn, these couples offer comparative scholars of the welfare state an ‘acid test’ case study for how effectively families are protected from social risk. Our results additionally highlight how cross-national differences in the female breadwinner income disadvantage do not fit neatly with established welfare typologies, suggesting that other factors – in particular, labour market characteristics and the economic cycle – are also at play." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Families, Work and Care: Qualitative Longitudinal Research and Policy Engagement (2021)
Zitatform
Millar, Jane (2021): Families, Work and Care: Qualitative Longitudinal Research and Policy Engagement. In: Social Policy and Society, Jg. 20, H. 4, S. 629-634. DOI:10.1017/S1474746420000482
Abstract
"Qualitative longitudinal research can make a distinctive contribution to policy discussions and to the assessment of outcomes. This article draws on research with lone-parent families over fifteen years to illustrate how change and continuity can look different over shorter and longer time periods, to discuss presenting longitudinal qualitative evidence through the selection of case studies, and to explore some of the challenges of engaging in policy debates with qualitative data." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Employment Trade-Offs under Different Family Policy Constellations (2021)
Olsen, Karen M.;Zitatform
Olsen, Karen M. (2021): Employment Trade-Offs under Different Family Policy Constellations. In: Work, Employment and Society, Jg. 35, H. 1, S. 37-56. DOI:10.1177/0950017019892827
Abstract
"This article examines how employees consolidate the spheres of work and family in three countries with different family policy constellations: Sweden, Germany and Great Britain. The analyses are based on data from the International Social Survey Programme, 2015. Building on family policy typologies, the study demonstrates how gender and family and employment demands interact with the institutional setting regarding how people make employment trade-offs. The results show that (1) employees in Sweden make the fewest employment trade-offs, (2) family demands exert a gendered effect on employment trade-offs in Germany and (3) employment demands have both similar and distinct gender effects across countries. The article contributes to the literature by showing how individual characteristics interact with family policy constellations. The findings provide little support for a welfare-state paradox regarding family demands but some support with regard to employment demands." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Household labor supply: Collective results for certain developed countries (2020)
Bautista Lacambra, Sergio;Zitatform
Bautista Lacambra, Sergio (2020): Household labor supply: Collective results for certain developed countries. (MPRA paper 101514), München, 29 S.
Abstract
"This paper shows some empirical results for the collective labor supply of households in thirteen developed countries (USA, UK, Australia, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Russia, Japan, and China). I have reviewed a significant number of papers in order to aggregate information for future investigations. Among the conclusions obtained are a gender differential in labor supply when the household includes a child, and a greater level of female household production. This analysis shows that gender differences observed in other literature persist throughout the consulted literature." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Do gender and socioeconomic status matter when combining work and family: Could control at work and at home help?: Results from the Whitehall II study (2020)
Zitatform
Falkenberg, Helena, Petra Lindfors, Tarani Chandola & Jenny Head (2020): Do gender and socioeconomic status matter when combining work and family: Could control at work and at home help? Results from the Whitehall II study. In: Economic and Industrial Democracy, Jg. 41, H. 1, S. 29-54. DOI:10.1177/0143831X16682307
Abstract
"Work and family are sources of both satisfaction and conflicting demands. A challenge is to identify individuals at risk for conflict and factors that potentially reduce conflict. This study investigated how gender and socioeconomic status (SES) were associated with work - family interference (WFI) and family - work interference (FWI) and how control at work and at home related to WFI and FWI. Data from 1991 - 1993 and 1997 - 1999 of the Whitehall II study of British civil servants, including 3484 (827 women and 2657 men) employees in three SES-levels, were analysed. Women reported a higher risk for WFI and FWI. High SES employees reported higher WFI. Less control at home increased risks for WFI and FWI as did low control at work but only for WFI. This suggests that high SES women are especially at risk for conflict and that aspects from the spheres of both work and home should be considered in further research and practice." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Gender norms, fairness and relative working hours within households (2020)
Zitatform
Flèche, Sarah, Anthony Lepinteur & Nattavudh Powdthavee (2020): Gender norms, fairness and relative working hours within households. In: Labour Economics, Jg. 65. DOI:10.1016/j.labeco.2020.101866
Abstract
"Using data in the United States, UK and Germany, we show that women whose working hours exceed those of their male partners report lower life satisfaction on average. By contrast, men do not report lower life satisfaction from working more hours than their female partners. An analysis of possible mechanisms shows that in couples where the woman works more hours than the man, women do not spend significantly less time doing household chores. Women with egalitarian ideologies are likely to perceive this unequal division of labour as unfair, ultimately reducing their life satisfaction." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku, © 2020 Elsevier) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Mothers’ Autonomy or Social Constraints? Coherence and Inconsistency Between Attitudes and Employment Trajectories in Different Welfare Regimes (2020)
García-Faroldi, Livia;Zitatform
García-Faroldi, Livia (2020): Mothers’ Autonomy or Social Constraints? Coherence and Inconsistency Between Attitudes and Employment Trajectories in Different Welfare Regimes. In: Social Politics, Jg. 27, H. 1, S. 97-127. DOI:10.1093/sp/jxy030
Abstract
"This paper examines the coherence between mothers’ work–family attitudes and behaviors using data from the Czech Republic, Germany, Great Britain, Norway, and Spain from ISSP (1994, 2002, and 2012). Findings show that mothers’ attitudes are more constrained than Hakim’s preference theory suggests: (i) Between one- and two-thirds of mothers experience inconsistency between preferences and employment. (ii) Norwegian and Czech mothers’ agency has increased in this period, while in Germany and Spain results are mixed. (iii) The options of British mothers with preschool children have worsened. (iv) Norway currently has the greatest coherence between preferences and employment trajectories." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Economic Exchange or Gender Identities? Housework Division and Wives' Economic Dependency in Different Contexts (2020)
Mandel, Hadas; Lazarus, Amit; Shaby, Maayan;Zitatform
Mandel, Hadas, Amit Lazarus & Maayan Shaby (2020): Economic Exchange or Gender Identities? Housework Division and Wives' Economic Dependency in Different Contexts. In: European Sociological Review, Jg. 36, H. 6, S. 831-851. DOI:10.1093/esr/jcaa023
Abstract
"This paper explores cross-country variation in the relationship between division of housework and wives' relative economic contribution. Using ISSP 2012 data from 19 countries, we examined the effect of two contextual factors: women's employment rates, which we link to economic exchange theories; and gender ideology context, which we link to cultural theories. In line with economic-based theories, economic exchange between housework and paid work occurs in all countries—but only in households which follow normative gender roles. However, and consistent with the cultural-based theory of 'doing gender', wives undertake more housework than their spouses in all countries—even if they are the main or sole breadwinners. This universal gendered division of housework is significantly more salient in more conservative countries; as the context turns more conservative, the gender gap becomes more pronounced, and the relationship between paid and unpaid work further removed from the economic logic. In gender egalitarian societies, in contrast, women have more power in negotiating housework responsibilities in non-normative gender role households. In contrast to gender ideology, the cross-country variations in women's employment did not follow the expectations that derive from the economic exchange theory." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Gender divisions of paid and unpaid work in contemporary UK couples (2020)
Zitatform
McMunn, Anne, Lauren Bird, Elizabeth Webb & Amanda Sacker (2020): Gender divisions of paid and unpaid work in contemporary UK couples. In: Work, employment and society, Jg. 34, H. 2, S. 155-173. DOI:10.1177/0950017019862153
Abstract
"This article uses data from the UK Household Longitudinal Study to describe how contemporary British couples divide a range of work types. Our findings support the hypothesis, suggested by previous authors, that a shared egalitarian ideology is required for gender equality in divisions of work. In response to bargaining theories, the article also hypothesises that differentials in educational attainment within couples are more strongly associated with gender divisions of work when a couple's gender ideology is in conflict. Interaction analysis does not support this hypothesis." (Author's abstract, IAB-Doku) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
'If you put pressure on yourself to produce then that's your responsibility': Mothers' experiences of maternity leave and flexible work in the neoliberal university (2019)
Zitatform
Huppatz, Kate, Kate Sang & Jemina Napier (2019): 'If you put pressure on yourself to produce then that's your responsibility': Mothers' experiences of maternity leave and flexible work in the neoliberal university. In: Gender, work & organization, Jg. 26, H. 6, S. 772-788. DOI:10.1111/gwao.12314
Abstract
"Women remain underrepresented in senior positions within universities and report barriers to career progression. Drawing on the concepts of Foucault and Bourdieu, with an emphasis on technologies of the self, this article aims to understand mothers' academic career experiences. Interviews were conducted with 35 non-STEMM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics and medicine) academics in Scotland and Australia, to reveal the gender dimensions of parents' academic careers, in neoliberal university contexts. The data suggest that there are tensions between organizational policies, such as maternity leave and flexible work, and the contemporary demands of academic labour. New managerial discourses which individualize and make use of moral systems are particularly effectual in driving women to take up marketized research activity and compromise leave entitlements." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))
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Literaturhinweis
Do 'his' education and class matter?: the changing effect of the husband on women's labour-market transitions in Italy and Britain (2019)
Zitatform
Solera, Cristina (2019): Do 'his' education and class matter? The changing effect of the husband on women's labour-market transitions in Italy and Britain. In: The British journal of sociology, Jg. 70, H. 2, S. 526-550. DOI:10.1111/1468-4446.12373
Abstract
"A new stream of sociological and demographic theory emphasizes individualization as the key process in late modernity. As maintained by Hakim (2000), women also have increasingly become agents of their own biographies, less influenced by the social class and the family. In this study, I intend to contribute to this debate by analysing how, in Italy and Britain, women's movements between employment and housework are linked to their husband's education and class, and how this link has changed across cohorts. Using discrete-time event-history modelling on the BHPS and ILFI, my findings show that in both countries, if the woman's educational and labour-market profile is controlled for, the husband's occupation and education have lost importance. Yet, although based more on 'her' than 'his' profile, divisions along 'classic' lines are still evident and not context-free, and they assume different forms in the two countries with distinctive institutional and cultural settings. In 'liberal' Britain, women's labour-market participation responds more to motherhood and class than to education, while in 'familistic' Italy education seems more important, which suggests the existence of returns over and above strictly human capital/economic ones." (Author's abstract, Published by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons) ((en))