WORK, LIFE COURSE, AND GENDER

Abstract

Since Norwegian family-friendly policies are gender neutral while the division of labour in families is gendered, some argue that the generous state support for families may end up upholding the status quo; it may perpetuate the existing inequitable division of labour between mothers and fathers in the home and in the labour market in which some women take long maternity leave and work part-time. Since many gender equality measures are intended to increase the percentage of women in male-dominated occupations and positions, they are aimed at occupations with upwardly mobile trajectories. A typological distinction between ‘career’ and ‘non-career’ work is made in the analysis of biographical cases of men and women in two different organisational settings. Their thoughts and actions in relation to their occupational trajectories over the life course are examined in different layers of context in order to understand how a complex set of factors affects ways of adjusting to the phase of being parents of young children. The paper concludes that the relationship between gender equality measures and family-friendly policies is not necessarily characterised by tensions, but must rather be considered in relation to a complex set of circumstances in men's and women's life courses that include family, education, and occupation as well as organisational settings that for the many do not involve career jobs.