It is common for European couples living fairly egalitarian lives to adopt a traditional division of labour at the transition to parenthood. Based on in-depth interviews with 332 parents-to-be in eight European countries, this book explores the implications of family policies and gender culture from the perspective of couples who are expecting their first child. Couples' Transitions to Parenthood: Analysing Gender and Work in Europe is the first comparative, qualitative study that explicitly locates couples' parenting ideals and plans in the wider context of national institutions.This unique analysis of transitions to parenthood in contemporary Europe focuses on Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, the Czech Republic and Poland. It explores how parents' agency varies along with policy-culture gaps in their countries and provides evidence of their struggle to adapt to, or resist, socially desired paths and patterns of change. In fact, the ways in which institutional structures limit possible choices and beliefs about motherhood and fatherhood are linked in ways that often go unnoticed by social scientists, policy makers and parents themselves. This cutting-edge book will be of interest to social scientists, political scientists, journalists and policy-makers. Parents-to-be will also find value in this analysis of gender in parenthood. Contributors include: P. Abril, J. Alsarve, P. Amigot, S. Bertolini, C. Botía-Morillas, K. Boye, F. Bühlmann, A. Dechant, M. Domínguez Folgueras, M. Evertsson, N. Girardin, D. Grunow, M.J. González, D. Hanappi, T. Jurado-Guerrero, I. Lapuerta, J.-M. Le Goff, T. Martín-García, J. Monferrer, R. Musumeci, M. Naldini, O. Nesporová, M. Reimann, A. Rinklake, C. Roman, M. Seiz, R. Stuchlá, P.M. Torrioni, I. Valarino, G. Veltkamp, M. Verweij

Table of Contents:
Contents: Preface PART I Conceptual framework, comparative overview and methodology 1. Institutions as reference points for parents-to-be in European societies: a theoretical and analytical framework Daniela Grunow and Gerlieke Veltkamp 2. Institutional context, family policies and women’s and men’s work outcomes in eight European welfare states Marie Evertsson 3. Comparing couples’ narratives within and across countries. Research design, sampling and analysis Daniela Grunow PART II The Scandinavian ‘Role Model’? 4. The crossroads of equality and biology. The child’s best interest and constructions of motherhood and fatherhood in Sweden Jenny Alsarve, Katarina Boye and Christine Roman PART III Conservative welfare states transforming the breadwinner-homemaker model 5. Anticipating motherhood and fatherhood – German couples’ plans for childcare and paid work Anna Dechant and Annika Rinklake 6. Dutch couples at the life-course transition to parenthood Mirjam Verweij and Maria Reimann 7. The transition to parenthood in Switzerland: between institutional constraints and gender ideologies Nadia Girardin, Felix Bühlmann, Doris Hanappi, Jean-Marie Le Goff, Isabel Valarino PART IV Unsupportive familialism in crisis 8. The best for the baby: future fathers in the shadow of maternal care in Italy Sonia Bertolini, Rosy Musumeci, Manuela Naldini, Paola Maria Torrioni 9. The transition to parenthood in Spain: Adaptations to ideals Paco Abril, Patricia Amigot, Carmen Botía-Morillas, Marta Domínguez-Folgueras, María José González, Teresa Jurado-Guerrero, Irene Lapuerta, Teresa Martín-García, Jordi Monferrer and Marta Seiz PART V Drifting apart: Post-socialist legacy in new welfare states 10. Searching for egalitarian divisions of care. Polish couples at the life course transition to parenthood Maria Reimann 11. Constructions of parenthood in the Czech Republic: maternal care and paternal help Olga Nešporová and Růžena Stuchlá PART VI Conclusions in comparative perspective 12. Narratives on the transition to parenthood in eight European countries. The importance of gender culture and welfare regime Marie Evertsson and Daniela Grunow Index