The aim of this work is to demonstrate through comparative analysis of case studies presented from a range of countries, including the UK, the USA and several central European and Nordic countries, that despite global trends in working patterns and family structures, national policy frameworks can still influence outcomes at the micro‐level of daily life of individuals and families. The editors, lecturers and researchers in a range of UK universities and research institutes, led by Diane Perrons of the London School of Economics, conclude that, despite a range of policies to encourage the reconciliation of unpaid domestic caregiving work and paid work, gender inequalities in the distribution of paid work and caring between men and women remain, although the extent varies between countries in line with different policy approaches. Reasons suggested for the resilient gender gap vary from female preference to lack of policy approaches to encourage men into caregiving and other household responsibilities, and include occupational segregation and differential union representation.
The book is structured in five parts, with three chapter/case studies in each. The editors describe the structure as “adding layers of complexity” as it moves through, from general issues of work‐family balance to more specific questions about the gender division of labour within households and the logistics of managing the two sectors of life at the micro‐level on a daily basis. The final section adds policies designed to achieve gender equality and assesses their limitations to date.
While the content is definitely at an academic level, it has a very applied focus and would be of interest to a wider range of readers. The chapters are quite short and clearly structured making them accessible to non‐academic readers with an interest in issues of gender equity and employment.
I found this a useful and interesting collection of work on the broad topic of gender equity and paid work trends and policies in the area known variously as work‐life balance/coordination/reconciliation/integration because of the wide range of issues and concepts it covers, in particular some that were new to me ‐ for example, “city time or local time policies” by Boulin in Chapter 12. Boulin refers to policies that address new time use patterns and issues. In the area of employment these new time use patterns includes blurring of the relationship between work time and non‐work time and an increase in time pressure. Presser, Chapter 3, also deals with the challenges to family posed by employment in a 24/7 economy. Burchell in Chapter 2 deals with work intensification, as opposed to just hours of work, that impact on workers' ability to manage their dual roles of caregiving and paid work. Work intensification is the increasing effort that is expended during work hours, or increasing pace of work, with research suggesting this kind of pressure may be a greater problem than long hours.
The impact of France's 35 hour week on individual's work‐life balance is considered in Chapter 5. Nyberg introduces the dual career couple model in relation to Sweden in Chapter 6 and Hardill and van Loon consider identity risks in dual career couples in France and Canada while Crompton and Brockmann in Chapter 7, consider class aspects in the articulation of work‐life issues. Duncan, Chapter 8, discusses the issue of mothers' work‐life balance as individual preference or cultural construction, picking up on themes from two books I have previously reviewed for this journal (Hakim, 2003; Pfau‐Effinger, 2004). In Chapter 9, a scheme aimed at increasing the role and time of fathers in family life through sharing parental leave and thus supporting the dual earner family model is compared with a “cash for care” scheme designed to strengthen family as care provider, irrespective of paid work activities, thus being more compatible with a breadwinner family model of father in paid work and mother as caregiver.
Hardill and van Loon (Chapter 10) and Brandth and Kvande (Chapter 9) note that normative ideas around gender roles and identity, such as “the good mother” who puts children before paid work, also maintain gender differentials in employment, as men rarely have to choose between their paid work and their children's needs. Others point out that despite the increased involvement of men in childcare, this does not extend to housework, which remains primarily the domain of women or, for those who can afford it, a service which can be purchased in the marketplace.
Several chapters address the impact of new working patterns on couple relationships as well as children. For example, couples in work outside standard Monday to Friday day time hours – shift‐workers and weekend workers ‐ have higher rates of divorce (Presser, Chapter 8). While having one parent in part‐time work is seen as the ideal way to balance paid work and parenting roles, resulting in less work‐family spill‐over stress than both parents being in full‐time work, the 1.5 paid worker couple will have lower earnings which may create financial stress. Furthermore, low income workers may not have the choice of part‐time work because of their need to earn a living income.
The role of trade unions is covered in by Morris and Pillinger in Chapter 12. Declining union membership, and low membership in the female dominated service sector compared to the male dominated manufacturing sector, especially in the UK and USA compared with Europe, is also seen as a factor in gender differentials in employment outcomes.
The approach to critical assessment of the emerging issues and concepts and national comparison is to focus not just on gender equity, but gender difference. This leads to one conclusion that the reason work‐life or family friendly policies in the workplace may not have resulted in gender equality is a focus on making women's lives fit male workplace patterns, rather than acknowledging fundamental gender differences that exist in relation to care of children and other dependants. Without this recognition of gender difference there is little likelihood of developing policies and workplaces that better fit women's reality. The concept of the conflict between the model of the ideal worker with ideals of motherhood has been outlined by Williams (2000). Williams defines the ideal worker, from an employer perspective, as fitting the male pattern of entering the workforce from full‐time education, working full‐time with a linear career progression without time out for family responsibilities. Ideals of motherhood that include putting children first and women's role as primarily in the home in order to be available at all times to care for very young children, do not fit this model. An alternative solution to this conflict, as Brandth and Kvande suggest in Chapter 9, is to concentrate on policies to get men to share the caregiving role. However, as Duncan (Chapter 8) and Hakim (2003) have suggested, at least some women want to retain their primary responsibility in relation to children. This tension then leads to discussion of how to achieve gender equity based on more equitable valuing of the different roles and contributions of men and women, and an acknowledgement of differences within as well as between genders.
In the policy arena the book concludes that gender equality is part of the policy environment of all the countries covered in the book, but that it is more mainstreamed in Europe than in the USA and UK, with Finland and Sweden having particularly long histories of gender equality strategies. The book links this context to better services, conditions and gender equity outcomes in the Nordic countries compared to the UK and USA which relies more on market forces. As well as parental leave arrangements and extensive childcare, measures in Nordic countries include those aimed at increasing fathers' involvement in parenting (Chapter 9). However, the editors also note that despite comparatively better policies, provisions and outcomes in Nordic countries, the gender pay gap is still evident, primarily due to occupational gender segregation and individual performance payments. They argue that men are more aggressive self‐promoters in regards to performance payments which results in a wider pay gap.
In conclusion, this book is a comprehensive collection of the myriad aspects of gender differentials in employment that is drawn together by considering various practices and outcomes in relation to different national policy contexts. Its focus on how macro‐level policy contexts shape micro‐level choices at family level is valid, but also highlights the deeply embedded norms around gender differences that require a shift in focus from policies that enable women to participate in a workplace structured around men's lives, to policies that shift workplace structures to accommodate women's lives.
