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Intergenerational Contributions to Childcare Across Europe [project complete]
Project LinksOther Projects in This Theme:
External Links:  ResearchersAbstract:As always, there are always avenues left unexplored within a thesis. I should very much like to pursue a line of enquiry left untouched in my thesis which is the intergenerational responsibility for childcare. To what extent are grandparents and other relatives caring for children and how does this vary across Europe? This research is interdisciplinary in that it is directly or indirectly linked to many research areas including demography, economic and family sociology, the study of ageing , population economics and social policy. The comparative cross-national data to make this project possible has not been available until the arrival of the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). Having built up expertise with this particular dataset over the course of the thesis I am well placed to exploit it further without much further investment into data management issues. The ECHP contains information on how much time every adult respondent reports spending looking after children on a weekly basis. This is the main dependent variable of my thesis. For the thesis I only look at the time spent by fathers (and for comparison mothers) within two parent households. However, it is also possible to consider the childcare time spent by other members of the family, such as older siblings and grandparents. This research would also facilitate investigation into a new literature thus informing research proposals for future funding bids. Changes in household employment patterns and family structures call for new solutions to childcare. The dual-earner/dual-carer family model envisions, as both positive description and normative aspiration, a social and economic arrangement in which men and women engage symmetrically in both paid work in the labour market and in unpaid work in the home. This family model is unusual in reality, as women have, in general, become earners to a greater extent than men have become carers. Change has been asymmetric. If mothers are working longer hours as well as fathers, who is looking after the children? How much time do grandparents and other relatives report spend on childcare? How dos this non-parental familial childcare time differ between and within EU countries?
The data are drawn primarily from the European Community Household Panel (ECHP). Where comparison is cross-national, all countries for which data are available are included in the analysis. Where comparison is within countries, the analysis focuses on Denmark, the Netherlands, Italy and the UK. These countries have been chosen as they allow for the analysis of intergenerational childcare time across different national employment structures as defined by the proportions of household employment patterns and between contrasting welfare regime types. There is an element of policy impact analysis. Is it that differences in behaviour are associated with different policy regimes enabling or providing a greater range of lifestyle choice than others? For pooled cross sectional analysis, cross tabulations and logit models are used. Where longitudinal household data are used the approach for the analysis is panel data modelling. Event history analysis is used to study the factors affecting the transition into grandparental behaviours and the consequences of these actions (such as risk of second birth or divorce within the household). Department:Social Policy, University of Edinburgh Duration:1st Aug 2006 - Grant Type:Postdoctoral Fellowship PublicationsSmith, A. (2010) European Union, in A. O'Reilly (ed.) Encyclopedia of Motherhood, Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.. Smith Koslowski, A. (2009) Grandparents and the care of their grandchildren, Chapter 9 in Stillwell, J., Coast, E. and Kneale, D. (eds.) Fertility, Living Arrangements, Care and Mobility Understanding Population Trends and Processes Volume 1, Springer, Dordrecht, pp.171-190. Smith Koslowski, A. (2008) Who Cares? European fathers and the time they spend looking after their children, UPTAP Research Findings. Smith Koslowski, A. (2008) Who Cares? European fathers and the time they spend looking after their children, VDM Verlag, Saarbrücken. Smith, A. J. (2008) Working fathers as providers and carers: Towards a new conceptualisation of fatherhood, Social Policy Review,20, Chapter 14, Policy Press. Smith, A. J. and Williams, D. (2007) Father friendly legislation and paternal time across Western Europe, Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis, 9(3): 175-192. Smith, A. J. (2007) Working fathers in Europe: Earning and caring?, CRFR Research Briefing, 30. Smith, A. J. (2007) Book Review: Poverty An International Glossary,
European Journal of Social Security, 9(3): 293-4. ---------------- Smith, A. J. and Williams, D. (2007) "Father Friendly Legislation And Paternal Time Across Western Europe" Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis 9 (2) (175-192). PresentationsSmith, A. J. (2008) Invited Speaker: Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, “Familienpolitik aus der Gleichstellungsperspektive: Ein europäischer Vergleich”, 01/02/07, Berlin. Smith, A. J. (2008) Working fathers in Europe: Earning and caring, Poster presented at the UPTAP Meeting, Leeds, March. Smith, A. J. (2007) The case for grandparental leave, Presentation at the CRFR International Conference, University of Edinburgh, July. Smith, A. J. (2007 Working fathers in Europe: Earning and caring, Presentation at the Gender Research Network Launch Conference, University of Manchester, June. Smith, A. J. (2007) Working fathers in Europe: Earning and caring, Presentation at the RECWOWE Network Conference, Warsaw, June. Smith, A. J. (2007) The role of parents in social inequality and mobility, Presentation at the ISA RC 28, Brno, Czech Republic, May. Smith, A. J. with De Coulon, A. (2007) Adult basic skills teachers teaching teenagers, Presentation at NRDC International Conference, Nottingham, April.
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