Dual-career Spanish couples in Europe: work-family balance in childcare

Autor: Eva Bermúdez Figueroa, Mª Ángeles Minguela-Recover, Maria dels Àngels Escrivà i Chordà
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
DOI: 10.1111/imig.13047
Popis: The article explores the childcare arrangements made by Spanish migrants in Belgium, Germany and the United Kingdom. The research is based on semi-structured interviews conducted after an exploratory survey. The respondents, mostly women with university degrees, had engaged in intra-European mobility between the economic recession of 2008 and the health crisis of 2020. In the narratives, women in dual-career couples with young children reflect on how approaching work-family balance depends on receiving social, institutional and family support. In addition, gender expectations affect negotiations around the sharing of roles and responsibilities in different-sex couples. Interviewees underline that the gender divide persists or is even reinforced in relation to employment and technological change. Non-standard and -flexible jobs, little access to services or incompatible teleworking with children at home reveal the fragility of care and welfare regimes and, consequently, the limited ability of couples to find satisfaction in the search for a work–family balance.
The article is derived from the research project “New intra-European mobilities: decisions about work, family and politics of ‘transmigrant’ Spaniards”, funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (CSO2017-84618-P). The Institute for Social and Sustainable Development of the University of Cadiz (INDESS) and the University of Huelva have supported the translation of this article. We are thankful to the editors and anonymous reviewers for their helpful comments. Funding for open access charge: Universidad de Huelva / CBUA
Databáze: OpenAIRE