Development of Culture, Welfare States and Women's Employment in Europe

Birgit Pfau-Effinger, University of Hamburg, Germany

’This book is truly revolutionary. It shows how comparative differences in women's labour force participation result from deep-seated features at the level of social cultures, in how understandings of motherhood, childhood, gendered divisions of labour and family are represented in how women and men behave. This means we can no longer see social policy as simply providing financial incentives or support; it both reflects and must intervene on a much wider and deeper social canvas.’ Professor Simon Duncan, University of Bradford, UK ’Pfau-Effinger’s book boldly steps up to consider the question of how culture matters for women's employment. Moreover, her answers are both theoretical and empirical as she develops a theoretical framework and then applies it to three European societies. In both respects, this book makes an important contribution to the sociology of gender and work.’ International Sociology Review of Books ’Well-researched and clearly written, in spite of the complexity of the task at hand, Development of Culture, Welfare States and Women’s Employment in Europe deserves to be of interest to academic researchers and policy makers, facilitating greater understanding of the factors inhibiting and generating gender, and wider, societal transformations.’ Industrial Relations Journal ’This book makes a useful new contribution to understanding the complex and interrelated factors that influence individual decisions around models of combining paid and unpaid work in twenty-first century western societies.’ Women in Management Review '... the book offers a carefully argued, researched contruibution to gendered debates... The wealth of information it provides ensures access to a considerable amount of background reading.' European Journal of Social Work Vol 10 no 4, December 2007 'This book makes a useful new contribution to understanding the complex and interrelated factors that influence individual decisions around models of combining p

• Contents: Introduction; International differences in women's labour force participation: theoretical approaches; Constructing a theoretical framework for the cross - national comparison: the gender arrangement approach; Designing the empirical analysis; Germany: contradictory modernization- from the housewife to the part-time carer model of the family; The Netherlands: dramatic modernization of the gender arrangement - towards an egalitarian, family - oriented arrangement; Finland: from the family economic model to the dual breadwinner model; Development paths of gender arrangement and labour market integration; Exploring the differences in the development of gender arrangements; Conclusion; Bibliography; Index.