scholarly journals Both Parents Working: Challenges and Strains in Managing the Reconciliation of Career and Family Life in Dual-Career Families. Empirical Evidence from Austria

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. 269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gerlinde Mauerer
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Dual Career ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Women's Participation ◽  
Male Breadwinner

The presented empirical data analysis aims to shed light on the persistence of gender inequalities in sharing parenting responsibilities and addresses possible improvements for realising gender equality. In recent decades, family policies in the European Union have targeted the increase of men’s shares in parental leave (= paternal leave) as well as women’s participation in the labour market. Following the results of the Lisbon Treaty in 2000, many EU member states including Austria introduced non-transferable fathers’ quotas in their regulations on parental leave. Subsequently, the share of men on parental leave increased. Nevertheless, both in number and duration, men’s childcare allowance claims have remained lower than women’s claims. This paper investigates shared parental leave practices based on 36 interviews with fathers on paternal leave, and 14 follow-up interviews with parents after paternal leave. The qualitative data reveal the challenges that arise when both parents are faced with reconciling work and family during and after parental leave. Although the data showed that progress has been made in reducing gender inequality, the interviews make clear that employers’ attitudes perpetuate traditional gendered expectations of parental leave claims and still focus on images of a male breadwinner. Also, the distribution of gainful and family work reveals gender inequalities. The paper therefore discusses challenges that arise in the realisation of current gender and family policies in order to provide a basis for making changes that further enhance the opportunities for dual-career couples within the organisation of parental leave laws.

EU accession - chance for gender equality in CEE countries

2000 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 468-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daša Šašić Šilović
Keyword(s):  
Gender Equality ◽  
Social Action ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Political Action ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
And Gender

Does accession to the European Union offer a chance to promote equality between men and women in societies in transition? What challenges does this process raise and how are they to be addressed? What is the role of trade unions and other social actors? The article attempts to open up a debate on these issues and to provide a positive matrix for influencing the empowerment of women and gender equality in the course of the accession procedure. Gender inequalities, it is pointed out, are not specific to applicant countries, but exist in most EU Member States. This offers an opportunity to initiate political, economic and social measures relating to gender equality throughout Europe, and to create an environment conducive to sustainable human development. Unfortunately, cases of positive social action are rare and gender issues are taken for granted, rendered invisible by neutral legislation and partial measures, and marginalised. The activities of trade unions in CEECs provide examples of such problems. Therefore, political action, the sharing of information, knowledge and lessons learned, as well as concerted action between trade unions from EU Member States and those in CEEC have the potential to radically change the map of gender inequalities to the benefit of all.

The Work–Life Balance from the Perspective of Economic Policy Actors

2003 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 221-229 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Ackers
Keyword(s):  
Service Sector ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Work Life ◽  
Work Life Balance ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Life Balance ◽  
Female Labour ◽  
Male Breadwinner ◽  
Family Friendly ◽  
Traditional Work

This article reviews the burgeoning literature on work–life balance and family-friendly policies in European countries, noting the new interdisciplinary dialogue between traditional ‘work’ and ‘family’ disciplines. It examines the findings from interviews with economic actors, suggesting that, while work–life balance and family-friendly policies are an issue everywhere, progress is very uneven. Overall, strong traditional family policies have not contributed to work–life balance, since they are predicated on a traditional male breadwinner model. A combination of strong demand for female labour in the service sector and equal opportunities policies is, however, causing employers and government to address the issue.

scholarly journals Family Support in the Republic of North Macedonia

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Irena Avirovic Bundalevska ◽  
Makedonka Radulovic ◽  
Angelka Keskinova
Keyword(s):  
Family Support ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Candidate Country ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Basic Step ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Republic ◽  
Governmental Institutions

Ensuring children's rights and family well-being is a priority of every European country. The Republic of North Macedonia, as a candidate country of the European Union, shares the same family values and family policies as the remaining EU member states. However, despite the past governmental efforts in the area of legal harmonization, several gaps have to be fulfilled and policies to be improved to achieve efficient institutions at the European level. To expand existing policies regarding family support, we consider crucial the analysis of the factual situation in the country, as a basic step towards further research. Therefore, this paper aims to initially provide an analysis of the family support legal framework of the country. Secondly, we intend to map governmental and non-governmental institutions in the Republic of North Macedonia which is responsible to provide family, children, and parents' support. By doing so, we can develop additionally omitted family policies or improve existing ones. Finally, the paper will present a list of competencies of the employees of family support institutions to evaluate more peculiarly their staff's skills standards.

scholarly journals Dual-Career Couples in Bangladesh: Exploring the Challenges

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-57
Author(s):  
Nahneen Sultana ◽  
Ayesha Tabassum ◽  
Abu Md. Abdullah
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
Relationship Maintenance ◽  
Capital City ◽  
Extensive Literature ◽  
Dual Career ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Dual Career Couples ◽  
Education And Employment ◽  
Work Family

With the increased opportunity of women’s education and employment, the numbers of dual-career couples are increasing in Dhaka, the capital city of Bangladesh. As a result, these couples are confronting various types of problems every day, as they need to maintain both the work and family role demands simultaneously. After an extensive literature review, the study was initiated to explore the challenges of dual-career couples in terms of Dhaka, Bangladesh. A structured questionnaire was used as a means of data collection and the survey was conducted on 155 dual-career couples (N = 310) in Dhaka. Principle component analysis revealed nine challenges that are encountered by dual-career couples. These challenges include childcare, family-work conflicts, work-family conflicts, marital relations, dependency on others for housekeeping and childcare, personal well-being, family activity maintenance, housekeeping, and social relationship maintenance. 

scholarly journals Family Policy and Child Well-Being: The Case of Montenegro in the European Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (17) ◽  
pp. 9118
Author(s):  
Branko Bošković ◽  
Harriet Churchill ◽  
Oriola Hamzallari
Keyword(s):  
Family Policy ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Work And Family ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Family Resources ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Life Chances ◽  
Wide Family

Family policies and family support measures have been identified as having major implications for child well-being, particularly through their role in influencing parental and family resources, circumstances and behaviour. The official approach to family policies focuses on opportunities for families to balance their work and family duties and care for their children. This paper analyses the type of policies available in Montenegro compared to the European Union. Potentially, Montenegro will become an EU member state, thus it is important to take a look at Montenegrin practice, as children should have equal life chances and protection of their well-being. Having a solid legal framework per se does not necessarily result in significant positive outcomes, and this paper analyses whether children in Montenegro have the same opportunities for development, in the context of family policies, as their counterparts in the rest of Europe. The focus of the paper will be on the criteria that define family rights and obligations, eligibility, availability and use of family policies in Montenegro. Based on the specific measures and datasets examined, the analysis considers the degree to which a period of family policy investment in Montenegro has been accompanied by improvements in child well-being and family resources, and undertakes comparisons in these regards with EU-wide family policy and child well-being trends. The paper uses a welfare state theoretical approach, with the focus on social investment and relevant data on children’s well-being obtained from the Eurostat, the OECD and the official national statistics.

scholarly journals Recent reforms in French and German family policies: similar challenges, different responses

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeanne Fagnani ◽  
Antoine Math
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Male Breadwinner ◽  
The Family ◽  
Part Time ◽  
Employment Rates ◽  
Paradigmatic Change ◽  
Work Family ◽  
Gradual Approach

This article investigates whether the recent reforms introduced in the family policies of both France and Germany are leading the two countries towards some measure of convergence. Germany has favoured dramatic changes, especially a new parental leave allowance, while France, for its part, has chosen a more gradual approach that has translated into an enhancement of its promotion of work-family reconciliation policies along with steady increases in spending related to childcare provision over the last decade. Despite a rise in its overall supply of childcare Germany still lags far behind France in this domain, a phenomenon that can be partially explained by a combination of institutional obstacles, the persistence of social norms governing childcare for under-3s, and excessive demand. We argue that the main drivers for paradigmatic change in Germany have been concerns over the consequences of declining fertility; a shortfall of qualified workers; and, the shattering of certitudes following an OECD study on childhood education. In France reforms in parental leave policies have been more incremental with, for example, mothers being encouraged to retain their links to the workforce even while on leave. But while the reforms adopted by Germany represent a radical departure from the former ‘male-breadwinner model’, mothers’ employment rates remain lower than in France and German mothers work part-time with much greater frequency than their French counterparts.

scholarly journals Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Family Policy Challenges in Meeting the European Union’s Standards and Recommendations

2021 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 347-366
Author(s):  
Nikolina Obradović
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Labour Market ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Family Policy ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Female Employment ◽  
Gender Inequalities ◽  
Policy Dialogue ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans

Family policy in Bosnia and Herzegovina’s entities (Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republic Srpska) is incoherent, with its different elements being scattered across different ministries and levels of government. The system is found to be inapt to respond to the needs of families, thus enhancing gender inequalities in the labour market and within families. As a country aspiring to join the European Union, Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with other countries of the Western Balkans region, participates in regular policy dialogue with the European Union institutions. The latest European Commission assessment of the country’s Economic Reform Programme identifies low employment of women as one of the key challenges and implicitly calls for the country to develop an employment-oriented family policy. By analysing the system of family policy and its recent policy developments, the article assesses the country’s capacity to respond to the recommendation and create conditions for greater participation of women in the labour market. The question is whether the European Union’s conditionality and recommendations have the potential to transform the current family policy arrangements in the entities. Key words: work-family policy, female employment, gender inequalities, maternity leave, parental leave, early childhood education and care services, Bosnia and Herzegovina.

scholarly journals Family Policies and Family Outcomes in OECD Countries

2020 ◽  
pp. 193-217
Author(s):  
Willem Adema ◽  
Chris Clarke ◽  
Olivier Thévenon
Keyword(s):  
Living Arrangements ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Oecd Countries ◽  
Family Policies ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Family Outcomes ◽  
Work Arrangements ◽  
New Family ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Paid Parental Leave

AbstractFamilies in OECD member countries have changed dramatically in recent decades. Across almost all OECD countries, couples are marrying and starting a family later than ever before. Fertility rates are low. Divorce and re-partnering have become much more common, giving rise to a diversity of new family forms. The (male) single-earner family model, previously dominant, is now largely a thing of the past. This chapter examines how families and family policies have changed in OECD countries in recent decades. It starts with an overview of changes in families, in partnering behaviours, in family living arrangements, and in family work arrangements. The chapter then turns to the evolution of family policy and the policy response to changing families, such as increases in public Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) support and the provision of fathers-only paid parental leave. It concludes by highlighting important key challenges ahead, including how policy must adapt to growing inequalities between families.

Doing Everything You Can, but Not (yet) Getting it Right: Challenges to Brussels' Great Expectations for Water Quality1

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Franca Angela Buelow
Keyword(s):  
Water Status ◽  
Organizational Structures ◽  
Eu Water Framework Directive ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Great Expectations ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
European Water ◽  
Improve Water Quality ◽  
Governance Architecture

To arrive at a good status of all European water bodies is the main objective of the European Union (EU) Water Framework Directive (WFD). Since its adoption in 2000, the policy has fundamentally changed the institutional, procedural and organizational structures of Member States' water management, leading to an Europeanization of national legislation and decision-making structures. The case of WFD implementation in Schleswig-Holstein is an example of the policy's highly innovative governance architecture that unfortunately is not (yet) able to take that one last hurdle: to improve water quality and establish a good water status across EU Member States by 2015 or 2027.

Reports on Recent Activities of European Food Safety Authority

2019 ◽  
Vol 30 (5) ◽  
pp. 217-220
Keyword(s):  
Pesticide Residues ◽  
Food Products ◽  
Sampling Procedure ◽  
Control Programme ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Official Control ◽  
National Programmes ◽  
Control Programmes ◽  
Risk Managers

This report provides an overview of the 2017 official control activities on pesticide residues carried out in the European Union (EU) Member States, Iceland and Norway. It summarises the results of both the 2017 EU-coordinated control programme (EUCP) and the national control programmes (NP). While the NPs are mostly risk based (so called enforcement samples) focusing on pesticides or products originating from countries where a number of exceedances have been observed in the past, the EUCP aims to present a statistically representative snapshot of the situation of pesticide residues in food products that are mostly consumed in the EU following a random sampling procedure. The report includes the outcome of a dietary risk assessment based on the results of the overall 2017 control programmes. The comprehensive analysis of the results of all reporting countries provides risk managers with sound-based evidence for designing future monitoring programmes, in particular for taking decisions on which pesticides and food products should be targeted in risk-based national programmes.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document