Rosemary Crompton

Work-life 'balance' in Europe

Although work-life ‘balance’ is an EU policy priority, within Europe there are considerable variations in the nature and extent of supports that national governments have offered to dual-earner families. In general, the Nordic welfare states offer the highest level of supports, although other countries, such as France, have historically offered extensive childcare supports to working mothers. We examine national variations in reported levels of work-life conflict, drawing upon questions fielded in the 2002 Family module International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) surveys for Britain, France, Finland, Norway and Portugal. We find evidence of a ‘societal effect’ in the cases of Finland and Norway, in that significantly lower levels of work-life conflict are reported in these countries even after a range of factors have been controlled for. However, support for childcare in France does not appear to have had a similar impact. Further explorations of the data reveal that the domestic division of labour is relatively traditional in France, and that this is associated with higher levels of work-life conflict.

Attitudes, women’s employment and the domestic division of labour a cross-national analysis in two waves

This article draws on a repeat of a 1994 survey, carried out in 2002, in three contrasting countries: Britain, Norway and the Czech Republic.The 1994 survey demonstrated that there was a significant association between more ‘liberal’ gender role attitudes and a less traditional division of domestic labour in all three countries. In 2002, this association was no longer significant for Britain and Norway. Gender role attitudes had become less traditional in all three countries, although women’s attitudes had changed more than men’s.There had been little change in the gendered allocation of household tasks, suggesting a slowing down of the increase of men’s involvement in domestic work. It is suggested that work intensification may be making increased participation in domestic work by men more difficult. Although national governments are becoming more aware and supportive of the problems of work-life ‘balance’, an increase in competitiveness and intensification at workplaces may be working against more ‘positive’ policy supports.

‘We both need to work’ maternal employment, childcare and health care in Britain and the USA

Both Britain and the USA are described as market-oriented or ‘liberal’ welfare regimes. However, there are important variations within these two countries: although both have high rates of maternal employment, part-time work is much more common in the UK than in the USA, where dual-earner (full-time) couples are the norm. Part-time employment can help to ease work-family conflict for women, while simultaneously contributing to the household income. However, part-time work is limited in its economic benefits, is also career limiting, and, in the USA, it generally comes without health insurance. While most of the current research regarding maternal employment decisions focuses on women, this research involves interviews with 83 British and American fathers, to better understand the complexity of such decision-making. Men’s attitudes and experiences are examined in detail, focusing on the need for two incomes, the importance of paid health care and childcare costs and the potential role of part-time work.

Sharing the load? Partners' relative earnings and the division of domestic labour

One of the most pressing issues contributing to the persistence of gender inequality is the gendered division of domestic labour. Despite their entry into paid employment, women still carry out more domestic work than men, limiting their ability to act on an equal footing within the workplace. This qualitative research adds to the ongoing debate concerning the reasons for the persistence of the gendered nature of domestic work, by comparing working women who earn more, those who earn around the same and those who earn less than their male partners, as well as examining women’s absolute incomes. On average, men whose partners earn more than they do carry out more housework than other men, although women in these partnerships still do more. However, these women actively contest their male partner’s lack of input, simultaneously ‘doing’ and ‘undoing’ gender. The article also identifies class differences in the ‘sharing’ of domestic work.

Continuity and change in the gender segregation of the medical profession in Britain and France

It is a well established fact that the entry of women into higher‐level professional occupations has not resulted in their equal distribution within these occupations. Indeed, the emergence and persistence of horizontal and vertical gender segregation within the professions has been at the heart of the development of a range of alternative theoretical perspectives on both the “feminisation process” and the future of the “professions”more generally. Through an in‐depth comparative analysis of the recent changes in the organisation and administration of the medical profession in Britain and France, this paper draws upon statistical data and biographical interviews with male and female general practitioners (GPs) in both countries in order to discuss and review a variety of approaches that have been adopted to explain and analyse the “eminisation” process of higher‐level professions. Our conclusions review the theoretical debates in the light of the evidence we have presented. It is argued that, despite important elements of continuity in respect of gendered occupational structuring in both countries, national variations in both professional and domestic gendered architectures lead to different outcomes as far as the extent and patterns of internal occupational segregation are concerned. Both female and male doctors are currently seeking – with some effect – to resist thepressures of medicine on family life.

Occupational Class, Country and the Domestic Division of Labour

The continuing increase in the level of paid employment amongst women raises important questions as to the allocation of domestic work. As the total of paid working hours within households continues to rise, who will carry out the domestic work traditionally undertaken (unpaid) by women? One solution is for men to undertake more caring and domestic work, and Fraser (1994) has argued that this outcome, that is, a move towards a ‘universal caregiver’ or ‘dual earner/dual carer’ (Crompton, 1999) society, is a necessary one if true gender equity is to be achieved. Another solution is the ‘outsourcing’ of childcare and other domestic tasks — that is, to pay someone else (usually another woman) to do them. Alternatively, women can continue to work a ‘double shift’ — in other words, retain the responsibility for household and domestic work whilst being in paid employment. What is the impact of these rather different solutions? Does it matter who does the housework as long as it gets done? In this paper, we will, in a preliminary fashion, begin to explore these questions.

Class, Gender and Work–Life Articulation

Contemporary societies are characterised by new and more flexible working patterns, new family structures and widening social divisions. This book explores how these macro-level changes affect the micro organisation of daily life, with reference to working patterns and gender divisions in Northern and Western Europe and the United States.

Report on an international conference on gender, class, employment and family

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief summary of a series of papers presented at the gender, class, employment and family conference, held at City University, London, in March 2008.Design/methodology/approach – The conference involved 25 papers presented by invited speakers, and the report is based on summary notes, observations and conference abstracts.Findings – This report summarises a range of contributions, theoretical and empirical, to the continuing debates on gender and class inequality in Britain, Europe and the USA. The evidence presented not only demonstrated the persistence of gender and class inequalities, but also provided a critique of the “individualisation” thesis. The contribution of both normative and material factors to gender inequality was extensively explored. The discussions focused upon a series of tensions and contradictions – between “sameness” and “difference” feminism; choice and constraint; capitalist markets and the human requirement for caring work.Origi...