Fathers and Mothers

This book presents a comparative analysis of the dilemmas faced by working parents with young children in four European countries - France, Italy, Ireland and Denmark - each of which represents a different "experience" of the evolving gender role process. It was the aim of the study to identify the key issues concerning the reconciliation of work and family roles, with particular emphasis on examining the barriers to men's greater involvement in domestic and family activities. A major purpose of the study was to develop new social indicators to measure issues of work life balance, which could be utilised in other national and cross-national studies. The book provides an overview of the latest research findings in the four countries, as well as a comparison and synthesis of the situations in these countries. It then presents the results of a survey carried out simultaneously in France, Italy, Denmark and Ireland and a comparative analysis of people's dilemmas and coping strategies in these countries.