European gender cultures

2019 ◽  
pp. 101-122
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role Attitudes ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Working Parents ◽  
Socially Constructed ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Gender Regimes ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Positive Effect

Wondering whethergender mainstreaming really supports the shift to a more gender-egalitarian Europe,this chapter explores the intertwined relation between individual gender role attitudes, gender regimes,and gender cultures in Europe. It investigates how structural aspects, which determine the opportunities available for men and women to achieve their goals, as well as cultural features, which establish socially constructed, predominant family models and legitimised gender roles, contribute to explaining individuals’ beliefs in gender equality. The chapter reports empirical evidence of the positive effect of work-family balance policies, which enshrines the gender mainstreaming principles, on the promotion of gender egalitarian beliefs. Thesepolicies and workplace practices allow working parents to combine their professional and personal responsibilities, directly affecting their opportunity structures. Because of such realistic opportunities, people tend to express more egalitarian views. At the same time, the implementation of work-family balance policies transmits a certain idea of a lifestyle model and family pattern, legitimising them through structural elements that contribute to changing current gender regimes.

scholarly journals Gender Equality in Europe and the Effect of Work-Family Balance Policies on Gender-Role Attitudes

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 5 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Sabine Israel ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Role ◽  
Gender Equality ◽  
National Income ◽  
Gender Role Attitudes ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Dual Earner ◽  
Family Model ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
Work Family

This study starts from the assumption that the context of opportunities for work-family balance affects individual attitudes toward gender roles, a main indicator of support for gender equality. Compared with extant research, the present study adopts a more articulated definition of “opportunity structure” that includes national income level and social norms on gender attitudes, measures of gender-mainstreaming policies implemented at the company level (flextime), and different work-family balance policies in support of the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model (e.g., parental-leave schemes and childcare provisions). The effects of these factors are estimated by performing a cross-sectional multilevel analysis for the year 2014. Gender-role attitudes and micro-level controls are taken from the Eurobarometer for all 28 European Union (EU) members, while macro-indicators stem from Eurostat, European Quality of Work Survey, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Our results show that both institutional and workplace arrangements supporting the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model are associated with more egalitarian gender-role attitudes This is particularly true concerning availability of formal childcare for 0- to 3-year-olds among institutional factors, as well as work-schedule flexibility among workplace factors, probably as they enable a combination of care and paid work for both men and women.

Gender Mainstreaming and Gender Equality in Europe

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Critical Evaluation ◽  
Gender Mainstreaming ◽  
Individual Values ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Future Challenges ◽  
Common Strategy ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
The Individual

The book provides a systematic scientific overview of gender mainstreaming in Europe. It recalls the main steps of the origins and the development of the European gender mainstreaming (GM) strategy. The book also connects this framework with the current situation of gender equality and explores the strength and weak points of the strategy. To do so, it provides a critical evaluation of the instruments used to measure gender equality and explores how societal aspects, such as the opportunity structure defined by work-family balance policies and practices, affect the individual values of gender equality supporting the development of gender egalitarian cultures. Further, it develops an outline of the current and future challenges of the gender mainstreaming strategy, that run in parallel with the general European Union’s challenges, such as the integration process, economic crisis, migration and refugees crisis, and the rise of right-wing Euroscepticism. In addition, the old but always current problem of conceptualizing gender equality in different ways leading to jeopardized results. The book offers a critical review of the GM strategy in Europe and analyses whether and how gender equality in Europe is improving, with a specific interest in the cultural differences between the European countries where this common strategy is implemented.

Father Influences on Employed Mothers' Work–Family Balance

2008 ◽  
Vol 29 (9) ◽  
pp. 1136-1160 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jay Fagan ◽  
Julie Press
Keyword(s):  
Family Involvement ◽  
Gender Ideology ◽  
Gender Ideologies ◽  
Systems Perspective ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Successful Work ◽  
Employed Mothers ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family

This study employed the ecological systems perspective and gender ideology theory to examine the influence of fathers' paid work–family crossover and family involvement on self-reports of work–family balance by employed mothers with children under the age of 13 ( N = 179). Multiple regression analyses revealed that fathers' crossover factors had a significant influence on mothers' perceptions of successful work–family balance. Mothers reported lower levels of work–family balance when fathers brought more stress from work to home. Mothers with more traditional gender ideologies reported higher levels of work–family balance when the father had a flexible job and when he was more involved in child care.

scholarly journals Associations Between Work-Family Balance, Parenting Stress, and Marital Conflicts During COVID-19 Pandemic in Singapore

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerard Chung ◽  
Xi Wen Chan ◽  
Paul Lanier ◽  
Peace Wong Yuh Ju
Keyword(s):  
Social Support ◽  
Parenting Stress ◽  
Latent Profile Analysis ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Working Parents ◽  
Marital Conflicts ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
Work Family

Objective:To identify profiles of parents’ work-family balance (WFB) and social support and examine their links with parenting stress and marital conflict.Background:As part of the “Circuit-breaker” social distancing measure to address COVID-19, the government of Singapore closed schools and workplaces from April-May 2020. Although this helped reduce transmission rates, for working parents, this period had been a challenging experience of working from home while providing care for children full-time. Problems in the work-home interface can have a significant impact on parenting and marital harmony.Method:We collected data from 258 parents in Singapore using online surveys. Latent profile analysis was used to identify profiles of parents’ WFB and spousal and employer support. Linear regression was used to examine links between profiles with parenting stress and marital conflicts. Results:Results indicated three distinct profiles of WFB and social support levels: (a) Strong (43%), (b) Moderate (38%), and (c) Poor (19%). Mothers were more likely than fathers to be in the Moderate and Poor profiles. One key finding is that profiles characterized by poorer WFB were found to be linked with higher parenting stress and increased marital conflicts. Conclusion:There are important variations in parents’ abilities to balance work and family and levels of social support received. Lock-downs can be detrimental to parenting and marital harmony especially for parents with poor WFB and weak social support. Implications:Any attention given to supporting working parents is vital and urgent to counter any problems in the work–family interface during a lock-down

Work, Family, and Gender: Elements for a Theory of Work-Family Balance

2009 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 641-647 ◽  
Author(s):  
Leonor M. Cantera ◽  
Mª Eugenia Cubells ◽  
Luz Mª Martínez ◽  
Josep M. Blanch
Keyword(s):  
Cultural Context ◽  
New World ◽  
Family Values ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Family Balance ◽  
Economic Survival ◽  
Work Family Balance ◽  
And Gender ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Practical Implications

Over last century, work was not only a means of economic survival, but also a very strong factor of psychological structuring and of organization of personal, family, and everyday life. The new world of work provides new challenges to the balance of work and family life. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of 453 people with the aim of analyzing the relation between variables such as family burdens and domestic responsibilities, and the appraisal of work and family, values involved in work-family balance. The results of this study show that, in the present economic and cultural context, assuming family burdens and domestic responsibilities increases the positive appraisal of work and family, both in men and women. This has theoretical and practical implications concerning the challenge of work-family balance.

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