The 2008 crisis had a significant impact on household employment in some European countries. An analysis of the EU Statistics on Income and Living Conditions generated a new cross-national typology of household employment structures and showed how these changed during the crisis and austerity period, capturing the experiences of high and low qualified households. Findings indicate that dual earning households are not always a consequence of gender equality but result from economic necessity or employment opportunities. The re-emergence of traditional male breadwinner households is often the result of female unemployment, especially for lower educated women. An increase in female single earners and workless households is evident in countries hit hardest by the employment crisis. The value of this cross-national typology, rooted in the interaction of educational effects and employment opportunities, is allowing comparison both within and between European countries, going beyond established typologies based on policy frameworks or gender cultures.

Mainstream life course studies often draw on a conventional understanding of time as a unidirectional clock-based entity, which proceeds in a uniform and linear manner. This paper argues that, in order to understand the social, relational and psychological processes of change and continuity that characterise life course processes, we need to adopt a more comprehensive and explicit conceptualisation of time – a conceptualisation that goes beyond an absolute (linear, chronological, uniform) definition – to incorporate the notion of relative time. Drawing on insights from narrative and biographical research, discussions of the temporal embeddedness of human agency and multidisciplinary research on time perceptions and time perspectives, we propose a definition of relative time based on three main characteristics: its multidirectional, elastic and telescopic nature. The paper promotes the integration of absolute and relative time in the study of life course processes, and the important role of prospective qualitative research in this respect, and outlines future avenues for research in this direction.<br /><br />Key messages<br /><ul><li>The paper highlights the need for a comprehensive conceptualisation of time in life course research.</li><br /><li>It shows the value of incorporating notions of relative time in interaction with absolute time.</li><br /><li>Drawing on interdisciplinary insights, it proposes a tripartite definition of relative time as multidirectional, elastic and telescopic.</li><br /><li>It discusses the implications of this conceptualisation for the analysis of events and transitions.</li></ul>

Work-family arrangements and the crisis in Spain. Balkanized gender contracts? 2. Running title: Work-family arrangements and the crisis in Spain 3. Name of the author: Núria Sánchez-Mira 4. Institutional affiliations (work was conducted in two different institutions): Centre d'Estudis Sociològics sobre la Vida Quotidiana i el Treball (QUIT)-Institut d'Estudis del Treball (IET), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona; Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lausanne. 5. Conflict of interest statement: No conflict of interest declared. 6. Acknowledgments: This article stems from research funded by a FPU Fellowship (Formación de Profesorado Universitario) of the Spanish Ministry of Education (AP2010-0448) and has benefited from the support of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research LIVES-Overcoming vulnerability: Life course perspectives, which is financed by the Swiss National Science Foundation (grant number: 51NF40-160590). The author is grateful to the Spanish Ministry of Education and the Swiss National Science Foundation for its financial assistance.