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The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted work and family life around the world. For parents, this upending meant a potential re-negotiation of the “status quo” in the gendered division of labor. A comparative lens provides extended understandings of changes in fathers’ domestic work based in socio-cultural context—in assessing the size and consequences of change in domestic labor in relation to the type of work-care regime. Using novel harmonized data from four countries (the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands) and a work-care regime framework, this study examines cross-national changes in fathers’ shares of domestic labor during the early months of the pandemic and whether these changes are associated with parents’ satisfaction with the division of labor. Results indicate that fathers’ shares of housework and childcare increased early in the pandemic in all countries, with fathers’ increased shares of housework being particularly pronounced in the US. Results also show an association between fathers’ increased shares of domestic labor and mothers’ increased satisfaction with the division of domestic labor in the US, Canada, and the UK. Such comparative work promises to be generative for understanding the pandemic’s imprint on gender relations far into the future.

In this chapter, we use cross-national data from a pilot study fielded in 2014 and 2015 among students in Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands to explore whether people feel citizenship rights for same-sex families should be established at the national or European level and whether these rights should be transportable within Europe. Specifically, we focus on the civil citizenship rights to marriage and partnership, and parenthood (adoption, ART), as well as social citizenship rights, including cash benefits for parents, housing benefits, childcare benefits, and parental leave. We find several cross-country differences, and notable distinctions between civil and social rights with greater support for EU involvement in guaranteeing civil rather than social rights. We discuss the implications of these findings in the conclusion.

The COVID-19 pandemic raises important challenges for solidarity and social justice. Not all social groups are equally affected by the COVID-19 virus, or the measures taken to curb its’ spread. In this chapter, we discuss how social groups differ in the risks they face during the pandemic and outline the most important factors that contribute to these inequalities. Notably, socio-economically disadvantaged groups run higher risks of contracting the virus and are, on average, more negatively impacted by COVID-19 counter measures. Subsequently, we introduce two important societal challenges posed by the pandemic – intergenerational and global solidarity respectively – and discuss the social justice questions these challenges evoke. How societies rise to these new challenges for solidarity and social justice will be crucial for our future.

Tijdens de coronapandemie moesten veel ouders thuiswerken en tegelijkertijd voor de kinderen zorgen en hen ondersteunen bij thuisonderwijs. Zorgtaken worden traditioneel vaker door vrouwen gedaan. Tijdens de pandemie zagen we echter dat ook vaders meer gingen zorgen. Hoewel de pandemie aanvankelijk een mogelijke katalysator van emancipatie leek, zijn oude patronen hardnekkig. Na verloop van tijd keerden veel ouders terug naar hun oorspronkelijke, traditionele verdeling van arbeid en zorg. We reflecteren op de beleidsimplicaties.

How is public engagement perceived to contribute to open science? This commentary highlights common reflections on this question from interviews with 12 public engagement fellows in Utrecht University’s Open Science Programme in the Netherlands. We identify four reasons why public engagement is an essential enabler of open science. Interaction between academics and society can: (1) better align science with the needs of society; (2) secure a relationship of trust between science and society; (3) increase the quality and impact of science; and (4) support the impact of open access and FAIR data practices (data which meet principles of findability, accessibility, interoperability and reusability). To be successful and sustainable, such public engagement requires support in skills training and a form of institutionalisation in a university-wide system, but, most of all, the fellows express the importance of a formal and informal recognition and rewards system. Our findings suggest that in order to make public engagement an integral part of open science, universities should invest in institutional support, create awareness, and stimulate dialogue among staff members on how to ‘do’ good public engagement.

Traditionally considered to be family policy laggards, continental European countries have witnessed significant changes in parenting leave policies in recent years. In this chapter, we compare the modernisation of parenting leave policies across Belgium, Germany, and the Netherlands. We analyse the extent to which these three continental European countries shifted away from male breadwinner-focused parenting leave policies between 2005 and 2020 and how these modernisation trajectories frame what is expected of parents in their leave-taking behaviour. Our analysis shows similarities and differences, as well as stasis and change across all three countries. In the final section of the chapter, we consider these developments in light of dominant gender cultures and the expectations of mothers and fathers. We suggest further research is needed on this grouping of countries to sufficiently explain the relationship between these gender attitudes and parenting leave modernisation trajectories.

This chapter examines LGBTQ parents' access to parenting options and the availability of parenting leave for LGBTQ parents in Canada, Croatia, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, and the UK. The first part of the chapter provides a brief overview of the recognition and access to parenting rights of coupled LGBTQ parents in relation to same-sex marriage, adoption, assisted reproductive technology, and surrogacy. The second part of the chapter focuses on leave eligibility, (in)equality of female and male same-sex parents in access to leave, and recognition of transgender and non-binary parents as well as multi-parent families. While there have been efforts to make policies more inclusive of LGBTQ families, our case studies show that it is not only restrictions in parenting leave policies that limit leave access for LGBTQ parents but rather restrictions in policies based on gender (mothers get more leave than fathers), paths to parenthood (birth parents get more leave than adoptive parents), and views of family (multi-parent families are not recognized).

The European Pillar Action Plan highlighted the importance of childcare as an important element to increase women’s employment rates. Childcare is also a headline target of the European Pillar of Social Rights, and central to the Gender Equality Strategy. Against this background, we provide a focused literature review to inform the preparation of a proposal for a Council Recommendation on early childhood education and care (ECEC) provision, including a revision of the Barcelona targets on childcare. Specifically, the focused literature review should contribute to answering two questions: y Which aspects of childcare policy reform affect parents’ decision to use childcare (i.e., participation rates of children)? y Which aspects of childcare policy reform affect labour market participation for mothers as well as gender equality in general? The aim of the focused literature review is to provide an evidence base directly relevant to policy makers regarding the revision of the Barcelona targets. To that end, the emphasis in the literature review is on formal childcare (i.e., paid, non-parental care typically outside the parental home) and specifically on childcare policy reforms (i.e., changes to childcare policy rules relating to various aspects of policy design, such as childcare accessibility (including eligibility conditions), affordability (including out-of-pocket expenses and mode of financing), and quality (mostly focusing on structural quality, such as staff educational requirements or restrictions on group sizes). The review is focused explicitly on reforms related to the outcomes of interest to the European Commission: children’s participation rates, mothers’ employment, working hours, and earnings. This report is structured as follows. First, we provide a theoretical background based on the (comparative) literature on ECEC in relation to its use and outcomes relevant to maternal employment and gender equality. This background covers literature outside the scop

Considerable work-family research has investigated the gendered division of work and care. Gender differences in leisure time have received much less attention from work-family scholars, despite the potential importance of such inequalities for women’s quality of life. Combining key insights from the substantial gendered leisure studies literature with work-family scholarship, the current study examines cross-national variation in gender differences in leisure quality. Using data on 23 countries from the 2007 International Social Survey Program, we expected that women’s leisure quality would be lower than men’s, but the gender gap would be smaller in countries with more gender egalitarian attitudes and divisions of care (via de-familialisation and paternity leave) and where women have more bargaining power. Our results show that these country characteristics moderate the association between gender and the extent to which free time is used to relax and recover. In countries with conservative gender norms, low levels of childcare coverage, limited paternity leave and lower political power for women, women’s leisure quality is lower than men’s. In more egalitarian countries, the gender gap in leisure quality is lower and in some cases, reversed. These results are in line with findings from cross-national research on the gendered division of labor and offer an important contribution to understanding gender differences in leisure quality across countries., Numerosos estudios sobre la conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar han investigado la distribución por sexos del trabajo remunerado y las tareas domésticas y de cuidado. Las diferencias de género en tiempo de ocio han recibido mucha menos atención de los investigadores sobre conciliación, pese a la importancia potencial de esas desigualdades para la calidad de vida de las mujeres. Combinando información clave de la extensa literatura de estudios sobre ocio por género con estudios sobre conciliación de la vida laboral y familiar, el estudio analiza las diferencias de género entre países en calidad de ocio. Partiendo de los datos de 24 países del Programa Internacional de Encuestas Sociales 2007, esperábamos que la calidad de ocio de las mujeres fuese inferior a la de los hombres, pero la brecha entre ambos sexos es menor en países que promueven la igualdad de género y el reparto de tareas domésticas y de cuidado (a través de la desfamiliarización y permisos de paternidad) y donde las mujeres tienen mayor poder de negociación. Nuestros resultados muestran que las características de esos países moderan la asociación entre género y el grado en que se utiliza el tiempo libre para relajarse y recuperarse. En países con normas de género más conservadoras, baja cobertura de servicios de guardería, permisos de paternidad limitados y menor poder político para las mujeres, la calidad de ocio de las mujeres es inferior a la de los hombres. En países más igualitarios, la brecha entre sexos en calidad de ocio es inferior y, en algunos casos, se ha invertido. Estos resultados coinciden con las conclusiones de estudios transnacionales sobre la división del trabajo por sexos y contribuyen notablemente a la comprensión de las diferencias de género en calidad de ocio entre países.

01 maart 2022, Contains fulltext : 284674.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Open Access)

Background: The health disadvantage single parents experience, compared to coupled parents, is often attributed to socioeconomic differences. This study looks into another explanation: differences in social support. Single parents report having difficulties maintaining social contact and its importance for one’s health is well established. This study explores the social support difference further by using the Capability Approach (CA). Differences in the value placed on a social network and differences in the perceived opportunities for a social network between single and coupled parents, might explain differences in social support. Methods: A quantitative analysis of secondary data was executed. The data came from the ERC project CAPABLE and was collected via an online survey in four countries. The data (n = 2138) were analyzed using the PROCESS-tool. Results: Single parents experience significantly worse health than coupled parents. However, no differences were found in social support. Therefore, it could not explain the health inequality. Value of a social network and perceived opportunities to maintain were significantly associated with social support. Single parents did not value a social network differently but do perceive fewer opportunities for one than coupled parents. Perceived opportunity for a social network was found to be a mediator between single parenthood and health. Conclusions: Although social support cannot explain the health disadvantage single parents experience, perceived opportunities for a social network can. This should be considered in future well-being interventions for single parents. This study used a broad conceptualization of single parents and used only the quantity of the support network as a measure of social support. This limits the results. The study showed the CA is a useful way of thinking about social support and other possible subjects.

Communities can play a possible role in adapting to and mitigating the risks of climate change that threaten humanity. By using the concept of community competences this thesis looks at two community initiatives focused on sustainability to get a better understanding of the way such initiatives make decisions and act collectively, while also contributing to a better understanding of the concept of community competences. Multiple data collection methods are used to get a better understanding of the extent to which community competences are developed: Eleven semi-structured interviews are analyzed and complemented with a document analysis of the statutes from the initiatives and available news articles about the initiatives. The results suggest that both initiatives have to some extent developed all community competences. Differences in the degree to which the competences are developed can primarily be explained by the way the initiatives are organized. Both initiatives struggle with reaching everyone in their district to participate. They also experience bureaucratic issues when dealing with the communities.

The Dutch government has extended the birth leave arrangement to stimulate fathers to take on more care responsibilities. This change marks and change how fathers are viewed and expected to be. The media tends to mirror these changing ideals and plays a role in the formation of social norms and stereotypes. Crucially, though, changing media portrayals are narrowly focused on white, middle-class fathers. Research on ethnic and class diversity within fatherhood ideals and framing is sparse. This research is focused on the framing of fatherhood in Dutch newspapers and what (ideal) types were represented in the Dutch newspapers. Furthermore, this conducted what types of masculinities were found in the news articles. 60 newspaper articles were collected from databank LexisNexis and analysed in QSR Nvivo 12.6. Four ideal types of fatherhood were distinguished and only the involved father was clearly represented in the newspapers articles. Regarding masculinity types, predominately the neotraditional type of masculinity was represented in the newspaper articles. It appears that there is a tension between the involved father and the neotraditional type of masculinity whereas the breadwinner role is central to this concept. Furthermore, work culture, managers and the company are key aspects for fathers to use the birth leave or not. In other words, the workplace plays an important role. The results showed that there was little to no diversity within the articles in terms of ethnicity or class.

The differences between ethnic minority women and native majority women in the labor market are often neglected in research. This lack is problematic because women from an ethnic minority background face a multitude of challenges not experienced by native majority women. Not uncovering the reasons behind these challenges can increase the likelihood of ethnic minority women being confined to lower socio-economic levels, adds to growing income disparities and increases chances of a lower overall quality of life. One of these gaps in research concerns the lesser prevalence of ethnic minority women working part-time and the reasoning behind this. This exploratory study examines whether ethnic minority women have differing abilities to work part-time and whether they value doing so differently. By applying the Sen's Capability Approach, it aims to answer to what extent do ethnic minority women differ from native-born women in their likelihood to work part-time and to what extent these differences are explained by the value placed on adjusting working hours and the capabilities to do so? The study worked with a non-probability post-hoc representative sample collected as part of the ERC CAPABLE Project to examine secondary survey data from respondents in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. A linear probability model was used for examination. The results show that ethnic minority women are significantly less likely to be working part-time than native women. The value placed on adjusting working hours and capabilities to do so ultimately did not mediate this effect, however, offered insights into other human capital characteristics which predict the value that women place on adjusting working hours. Policies built on these findings could help uncover the target groups who effectively want to adjust their working hours, ultimately improving employment policies. The policy recommendations in this thesis aim to address goals beyond financial advantages by including dimensio