Abstract
After the first transition to parenthood, most couples adopt a gendered labor division, where mothers become main caregivers and fathers breadwinners of the family. By comparing two distinct language regions within one country, the present article explores how parents’ gendered labor division comes into existence and what role gendered culture and social policy play. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with 23 German speaking and 73 French speaking participants from Switzerland. The results reveal that French speaking women and men presume an egalitarian labor division as parents. In German speaking regions, however, participants anticipate that mothers will become the main caregivers and fathers the breadwinners. It is shown that the labor market structure, which is in line with the male breadwinner norm, contributes to men’s full-time employment, whereas mothers’ labor market insertion is influenced by the acceptance of non-parental childcare and to a lesser extent by the offer of childcare facilities. Further, mothers experience more time conflicts than fathers, and the less mothers’ paid work is accepted, the more they suffer from feelings of guilt when being employed.
Highlights
The transition to parenthood is a turning point in the life course (Rönkä, Oravala, & Pulkkinen, 2003)
German speaking men point out that when they become fathers, they anticipate being the breadwinner of the family: “One has to provide for...[the] children”
Values about labor division are different in the two language regions: Before becoming parents, most French speaking women and men consider it ideal to share paid and unpaid work as parents, whereas their German speaking counterparts prioritize fathers’ breadwinning and mothers’ caregiving
Summary
The transition to parenthood is a turning point in the life course (Rönkä, Oravala, & Pulkkinen, 2003). Research shows that how parents experience this transition and which labor division they opt for is shaped by gender culture, as well as welfare state policies (Grunow & Evertsson, 2016, 2019; Pfau-Effinger, 2005). 2), which differ in their values and discourses This is especially the case in the domain of reconciling family and working life, in which ideals vary between the language regions (Armingeon, Bertozzi, & Bonoli, 2004; Bühler, 2002). Our analysis is distinct from more common international comparisons which contrast differences between nation states, and mostly emphasize the role of policy, whereas culture is only marginally discussed (Pfau-Effinger, 2005). By using a qualitative approach, we analyze how culture and policy interact, thereby contributing to the understanding of how women’s and men’s decisions on how to reconcile paid work and care work are shaped, and which conflicts between the two they experience, during the first transition to parenthood
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