Re~u 25 avril 1991; version finale revue 25 octobre 1991
R6sum6Kempeneers, M. et E. Leli~vre, 1991, Analyse biographique du travail fdminin, European Journal of Population/Revue Europ6enne de D6mographie 7, 377-400.Cet article montre comment l'application d'une m6thode d'analyse biographique d'interaction 5. un domaine o~ I'interaction parMt 6vidente -activit6 f~minine et f~condite -ouvre des perspectives nouvelles. En effet, les limites qui apparaissent lots de cette analyse conduisent les auteurs 5. conclure que ce n'est pas en raffinant les m6thodes mais plut6t ta collecte que l'on parviendra 5. progresser clans ce domaine. Le probl~me des interactions de l'activit6 et de la f~condit~ semble mal pos6 avant m~me le recours 5. la m~thode. Cela justifie la n6cessit6 de saisir te travail f6minin comme concept unifi6 ne dissociant pas la sphere domestique et la sphere r6mun6r~e. Cela conduit les auteurs 5. d6gager quelques principes de collecte mieux adapt6s aux pr6occupations r6centes dans ce domaine: des donn6es biographiques sur le travail f6minin. L'interaction collect6e 5. sa source se pr&erait alors 5. une analyse biographique plus r6v61atrice que celle qui confronte deux processus sans en 6valuer les modalit6s changeantes.
M. Kempeneers, E. Leli~vre /Analyse du travail fdmininThis article demonstrates how life event history analysis applied to the interaction between fertility and female economic activity can lead to new perspectives in the analysis of this complicated relationship. The authors identify limits to the analysis of the interaction given the anticipatory nature of behaviour. They conclude that progress in this field requires not the refinement of methods but rather a fundamental change in the approach to the data collected. If fertility and employment are considered separately, a problem is created even before the methods of analysis are applied. They recommend a conception of women's work as a whole, a conception that does not dissociate domestic and paid work. The authors go on to identify ways of improving the relevance of data collection to contemporary issues in the life history analysis of women's work. They argue that data on the interaction, collected at its source, would yield a more revealing life history than that which sees domestic work and paid work as separate spheres, and fails to take account of changes in their relationship.
