Work–family arrangements and the crisis in Spain: Balkanized gender contracts?

This article looks at the changing configuration of work–family arrangements (WFA) in Spain through the lens of labour market segmentation. Using European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions (EU‐SILC) data for 2005, 2007, 2010 and 2012, it examines occupational differences in WFA comparing the period of prosperity to the period of recession and the implementation of austerity policies. The findings show that the dynamics of labour market segmentation produce differential employment opportunities and degrees of job security for men and women across occupational groups, significantly shaping WFA. The crisis reinforced already balkanized gender contracts, with working‐class households suffering most from job losses and pressing economic needs. Couples whose members were services employees and/or manual workers saw the greatest increases in dual activity over the whole period, as dual earners during the prosperity period and as added workers during the crisis. The economic crisis and austerity policies have reinforced the social divide across work‐poor and work‐rich households, and dual‐earning skilled couples versus those earning out of economic necessity.