Balancing work and childcare - the legacy of a gender equality experiment.

Wetlesen, ToneSchou

This paper addresses work-family articulation and gender issues in a generational context. The goal of the paper is to gain insight into the potential for change in time-squeezed dual-earner families through research intervention at the level of the household in ways responsive to gender equality. It draws on qualitative interviews with men and women whose parents participated in a research experiment in Norway in the 1970s. The couples who participated in the experiment were supposed to share domestic responsibilities and both spouses were to hold part-time jobs. The paper explores memories about growing up in experimenting families. It raises the question of whether innovative work-sharing strategies were reproduced when the next generation started having children. Childhood memories were found to be very positive, and the next generation shared the egalitarian values of their parents. The part-time/work-sharing model was, however, reproduced in only a few cases for a short period. The paper argues that generational transmission had a rather weak formative impact on a practical level, while opportunity structure in accordance with welfare state measures tended to direct the work-family articulation of the next generation.

NORWAY; EQUALITY; FAMILIES; PARENTS; CHILD care; WORK-life balance; EMPLOYMENT

Community, Work & Family, 2010, Vol 13, Issue 4, p447

1366-8803

Academic Journal

10.1080/13668801003619423