Transitions to Parenthood in Europe : : A Comparative Life Course Perspective / / ed. by Ann Nilsen, Julia Brannen, Suzan Lewis.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Bristol University Press Backlist eBook-Package 2013-1995
• MitwirkendeR: Brannen, Julia,; Bäck-Wiklund, Margareta,; Dulk, Laura den,; Guerreiro, Maria das Dores,; Kovacheva, Siyka,; Lewis, Suzan,; Nilsen, Ann,; Peper, Bram,; Plantin, Lars,; Smithson, Janet,; van Doorne-Huiskes, Anneke,; Ĉernigoj, Nevenka Sadar,
• HerausgeberIn: Brannen, Julia,; Lewis, Suzan,; Nilsen, Ann,
• Place / Publishing House: Bristol : : Policy Press, , [2012]; ©2012
• Year of Publication: 2012
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (224 p.)

This book takes a life course perspective, analysing and comparing the biographies of mothers and fathers in seven European countries in context. Based on an innovative, cross-national EU study, it examines the ways in which working parents negotiate the transition to parenthood and attempt to find a 'work-life balance'. Using in-depth qualitative biographical data, the book offers a deep understanding of working parents' real lives by locating them within diverse national, workplace and family contexts. It provides rich insights into how policies and practices at the institutional level play out in individual and family lives, how they shape the decisions during both transition phases and in parents' daily experiences of juggling work and family life. It highlights some difficult and complex issues about the sustainability of contemporary working practices for bringing up children that are highly relevant in times of economic retrenchment. 'Transitions to parenthood in Europe' will be of interest to an academic readership at all levels of the social sciences, as well as employers, managers, trade unions and policy makers.

Table of Contents

Front Matter -- Contents -- List of tables and figures -- Notes on contributors -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- Cross-national comparisons: the history–biography link -- Methodological approaches, practices and reflections -- Comparing transitions to motherhood across contexts -- Comparing transitions to fatherhood across contexts -- Supports and constraints for parents: a gendered crossnational perspective -- Being a working parent in the present: case comparisons in time and place -- Conclusions -- References -- Index