Description
Book SynopsisWorking Mothers in Europe combines comparative perspectives on social policies with analyses of mothers' practices as evidenced in macro data and as explored in country based case studies. Social policy research has emphasised the impact of particular welfare systems and their policies on women's integration into the labour market and the organisation of care and work. However, the authors argue that policies are not the only factor, and, hitherto, we have very little knowledge of the precise interactions between social policies and social practices of individuals and families.
In order to accurately grasp the cross-country variation of mothers' work and care arrangements in Europe, this book assembles a comparative approach towards welfare systems and social policies with an analysis of mothers' social practices in several European countries.
Exploring the ways in which working mothers manage to combine care responsibilities and paid work on the basis of diverse public and private resources, this book will be invaluable to academics, researchers and students interested in the social sciences. More generally, the book will greatly appeal to those with an interest in women's employment, gender relations and the needs of children as matters that are tackled in the interaction between social policy and individuals.
Trade Review‘Working Mothers in Europe
will appeal to readers with an interest in public policy development and mothers' experiences of work-family balance (or imbalance). I envisage that Australian readers will be most interested in the sections exploring how mothers' combine paid employment with child care when state assistance is limited, given that Australia too offers only limited support for employed mothers.' -- Amanda Hosking, Labour & Industry
Table of ContentsContents: 1. Introduction: Social Practices and Social Policies 2. Mothers between Individualisation and Institution: Cultural Images of Welfare Policy 3. Caring for Children: The Logics of Public Action 4. Strategies, Everyday Practices and Social Change 5. Kinship and Informal Support: Care Resources for the First Generation of Working Mothers in Norway, Italy and Spain 6. Care Packages: The Organisation of Work and Care by Working Mothers 7. Women’s Participation in European Labour Markets References Index
