Britain’s slow movement to a gender egalitarian equilibrium: parents and employment in the UK 2001–13

Abstract

This article examines the working lives of British couple families across the first decade of the millennium using EU Labour Force Survey data (2001-13) taking a multiple equilibria approach. Some growth in dual full-time earners, increased working hours of mothers in part-time employment and a growing proportion of households with 'non-standard' working patterns are all identified, suggesting both a convergence and greater diversity in economic provisioning within parent couple households. Household employment patterns remain strongly associated with maternal education and family size but are becoming less sensitive to the age of the youngest child. The dual full-time earner model is growing in significance for British parents of young children but a new gender egalitarian equilibrium has not yet been reached.

The United Kingdom’s record on economic and social convergence with Europe: A pre-Brexit appraisal

“…Instead, a small share of households with working parents have swapped the one-and-a-half earning model for the dual full-time model. Detailed analysis suggests this reflects a variety of factors, including higher levels of education among mothers and improved public childcare (Connolly et al 2016). However, there are obstacles to further progress towards a gender-egalitarian family model.…”

“…Also, the UK lags behind other countries in policy reforms that might encourage a family employment model: it has a laissez-faire approach to working hours, its childcare provision is the most expensive in the EU, 22 statutory maternity pay is very low and many public services are still organised around the assumption of one full-time breadwinner plus part-time carer. Therefore, UK policy reforms are still 'maternalist and minimalist' compared with other European countries (Connolly et al 2016) and this will slow down a post-Brexit transformation to egalitarian sharing of work and care, as revealed by analyses of preferences among men and women in many European countries (see Müller et al 2016). 23…”

Household Employment and the Crisis in Europe

“…Countries should be able to move between 'category' types if employment practices alter over time. The analysis focuses on the interaction between heterosexual couples, as proposed by Wallace (2002) and applied by Hook (2015) and Connolly et al (2016). Rather than concentrating on the underlying assumptions of policy regimes or gender cultures as the key factors shaping the household organization of work, the analysis here focuses on identifying household employment patterns before, during and after the crisis of 2008 in Europe.…”

Men’s Perceptions and Emotional Responses to Becoming a Caregiver Father: The Role of Individual Differences in Masculine Honor Ideals and Reputation Concerns

“…Nevertheless, women’s increased labor force participation continues to pose considerable work-family challenges, especially to mothers (Park et al, 2013; Cory and Stirling, 2015). Even though men are becoming increasingly involved in household chores and childcare tasks, it is still very rare for men to become stay-at-home fathers in couple families with dependent children (Bianchi and Milkie, 2010; Connolly et al, 2016). Women report doing a disproportionately greater amount of domestic work and take on more childcare responsibilities than men, even when they work full-time (Hochschild and Machung, 1989; Bianchi and Milkie, 2010; Park et al, 2013).…”