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Gender Equality in Europe and the Effect of Work-Family Balance Policies on Gender-Role Attitudes

Author

Listed:
  • Vera Lomazzi

    (Data Archive for the Social Sciences, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, 50667 Cologne, Germany)

  • Sabine Israel

    (Data Archive for the Social Sciences, GESIS—Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, 50667 Cologne, Germany)

  • Isabella Crespi

    (Department of Education, Cultural Heritage and Tourism, University of Macerata, 62100 Macerata, Italy)

Abstract

This study starts from the assumption that the context of opportunities for work-family balance affects individual attitudes toward gender roles, a main indicator of support for gender equality. Compared with extant research, the present study adopts a more articulated definition of “opportunity structure” that includes national income level and social norms on gender attitudes, measures of gender-mainstreaming policies implemented at the company level (flextime), and different work-family balance policies in support of the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model (e.g., parental-leave schemes and childcare provisions). The effects of these factors are estimated by performing a cross-sectional multilevel analysis for the year 2014. Gender-role attitudes and micro-level controls are taken from the Eurobarometer for all 28 European Union (EU) members, while macro-indicators stem from Eurostat, European Quality of Work Survey, and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Our results show that both institutional and workplace arrangements supporting the dual-earner/dual-caregiver family model are associated with more egalitarian gender-role attitudes This is particularly true concerning availability of formal childcare for 0- to 3-year-olds among institutional factors, as well as work-schedule flexibility among workplace factors, probably as they enable a combination of care and paid work for both men and women.

Suggested Citation

  • Vera Lomazzi & Sabine Israel & Isabella Crespi, 2018. "Gender Equality in Europe and the Effect of Work-Family Balance Policies on Gender-Role Attitudes," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(1), pages 1-29, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:8:y:2018:i:1:p:5-:d:194063
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    6. Milla Salin & Jouko Nätti, 2019. "Who Wants to Work More? Multilevel Study on Underemployment of Working Mothers in 22 European Countries," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(10), pages 1-22, October.

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