1,721,002 research outputs found
Protected through Part-time Employment? Labor Market Status, Domestic Responsibilities, and the Life Satisfaction of German Women during the COVID-19 Pandemic
No full textThe COVID-19 lockdown measures have challenged individuals to reconcile employment, childcare, and housework. This article addresses whether these challenges have reduced life satisfaction among German women by focusing on their labor market status and drawing upon a topical online survey (Kantar) collected in Germany at two points in time: May 2020 and November 2020. We find that part-time employed women were better protected against a decline in life satisfaction, but only during the first lockdown. Economically inactive women were most likely to experience a decline in life satisfaction during the first lockdown, but least likely during the second lockdown. Life satisfaction has further decreased between the first and the second lockdown, and the likelihood of a decrease has converged for full-time, part-time, and economically inactive women
Does raising awareness about inequality decrease support for school closures? : An information treatment survey experiment during the COVID-19 pandemic
No full textThe increase in inequalities during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been the topic of intense scholarly and public debate. School closures are one of the containment measures that have been debated most critically in this regard. What drives support for closures of schools and pre-school services (daycare/kindergarten) during a public health crisis such as the current COVID-19 pandemic? More specifically, does inequality awareness affect this support? Theoretically, we assume that providing information on current levels of inequality can change policy preferences, as it increases awareness of their consequences for inequality. Moreover, we assume that the strength of the association between information provision and policy support varies across individuals—depending on their exposure to these policies, and the political attitudes that they hold. To identify causal linkages between awareness of inequalities and support for school and daycare/kindergarten closures, we use a survey experiment with information treatment, in which we randomly assign information designed to prime the respondents to think about either education inequality, gender inequality, or both. The experiment, involving more than 3,000 respondents, was conducted in the spring of 2021 at the end of a prolonged lockdown in Germany when a new piece of legislation was enacted, enabling or restricting school reopenings based on local infection rates. Using Probit Regression models for dichotomous dependent variables, we show that raising awareness of education inequality and gender inequality via an information treatment is associated with decreasing support for preschool and primary school closures. We also find that past exposure to school-closure policies strengthens the effects of information treatments, whereas previous political attitudes do not moderate the association between information treatments and support for preschool and school closures.publishe
Manage your money, be satisfied? : money management practices and financial satisfaction of couples through the lens of gender
Full text linkFirst published online: 18 December 2019There is a difference between who brings in income, who spends and manages money, and who finally benefits. All these aspects are important in determining how satisfied spouses are with their individual financial situation. Relying on Swiss Household Panel (SHP) data from 2004 to 2013 (N = 1,810 couples), this assumption is tested by analyzing how women's relative income and the management of economic resources within couples affect women's and men's financial satisfaction in the household. Results show that a change in the composition of total income in favor of women directly increases their financial satisfaction and net of household income, while men's financial satisfaction increases up to the point at which women earn more than one third of the total income. Money management regimes serve as an important additional tool in creating and compensating for (dis) advantage between partners. The results are discussed in the context of traditional gender norms in the Swiss Society
Gender bias in evaluating assistant professorship applicants? Evidence from harmonized survey experiments in Germany and Italy
No full textThis study investigates gender biases in the evaluation of applicants for assistant professorships in Germany and Italy. Drawing on the justification-suppression model of prejudice expression, we explore whether biases against women are expressed, suppressed, or even reversed in the appointment process, considering the different normative gender climates and gender equality strategies in the two countries. Using harmonized factorial survey experiments with professors of economics, political science, and social sciences, we found that women in Germany have an advantage both in perceived qualification for an assistant professorship and in the propensity to receive an interview invitation. In contrast, women in Italy are neither disadvantaged nor advantaged. We also examine whether gender biases exist when there is ambiguity about applicants' academic performance (co-authorship) and career commitment (parental leave). Our results reveal a co-authorship penalty and a parenthood premium in both countries, with no gender differences observed. Our exploratory country comparison suggests that Germany's proactive gender equality policies may be more effective in reducing the gender gap in assistant professor appointments compared to Italy's gender-neutral approach, by favoring equally qualified female applicants.</p
Gender Quotas or Girls' Networks? Evidence from an Italian Research Selection
No full textThis article investigates the role of the gender composition of selection committees and the role of connections in promoting women in research activities. Exploiting a newly collected data set on recruitment processes to entry-level research positions in a leading Italian research centre operating mainly in the hard sciences, the study finds that bias against women manifests itself at non-tenured entry level and is attenuated by the presence of a woman on the selection committee. However, the most important predictor for recruitment in the study is previous connections with the research centre, a mechanism which, due the lower density of network links with the institute among female candidates, operates as a selection device discriminating against women. The results suggest that gender of the committee members, network structure and type of recruitment must all be taken into account in approaching recruitment policy and that very early stages of scientific careers are crucial for addressing gender bias in research
Who cares for the children? Family social position and childcare arrangements in Italy, 2002-2012
No full textThis chapter provides an analysis of how parents’ social position affects the use of childcare below 24 months of age in Italy. Beyond looking at the overall relationship between family social position and childcare arrangements, we also investigate how it has changed over time and across different regions. We thus inspect changes in social inequalities in access to formal childcare in a period of rapid expansion in supply. Also, geographical differences in formal childcare provision in Italy are large, and socio-economic gaps in the use of infant care may vary within the Italian territory. Our analyses produces several observations: first, the prevalent form of childcare in Italy for children less than three years old is still parental care, although the use of formal childcare for very young Italian children has doubled from 2002 to 2012. Also, there has been less reliance on informal care over years. Second, over the period studied, we observed a strong association between parents’ social position and the dominant childcare arrangements: highly educated mothers and fathers in upper level jobs are more likely to rely on external childcare, and, in particular, to use formal care. However, the gap in reliance on parental care between families of higher and lower socio-economic position has shrunk over time, because the latter group is also opting increasingly for external childcare in comparison to the past. Still, a growth in the use of formal childcare over the years was particularly strong among more advantaged families, and this has led to increasing socio-economic differences in participation in the formal infant care. Third, over the whole period, formal childcare has been more widespread in the North-Centre than in the South. However, whereas socio-economic differences in the use of formal childcare have remained quite stable over time in the South, they grew substantially in the North-Centre. Finally, we found that both mother’s education and father’s occupation play a role in explaining socio-economic differences, although mother’s education appears to be more relevant
Advantage 'finds its way' : how privileged families exploit opportunities in different systems of secondary education
Full text linkFirst published online: October 3, 2019This article discusses key findings from eduLIFE, a cross-national project that examined the emergence of social inequalities in 17 countries characterized by different models of secondary education. First, we build upon existing international studies and propose a broader classification of forms of differentiation in secondary education. Second, we elaborate a fourfold typology of secondary education systems. Third, we provide a longitudinal and comparative analysis of how social background, academic performance, and forms of secondary schooling create heterogeneous educational opportunities for recent generations. In particular, we discuss: (1) the allocation of students to different forms of secondary schooling(2) student mobility among different types of educationand (3) the consequences of differentiation in secondary schooling for students' educational careers. Our findings suggest that, on average, more privileged families successfully exploit the opportunities provided by specific institutional configurations of school systems in order to secure the most favourable outcomes for their children.European Research Council under the European Union (ERC
Understanding the nature of status inequality : why is it everywhere? : why does it matter?
No full textLecture delivered at the European University Institute in Florence on 08 November 2017A video interview with the presenter was recorded on 08 November 2017Status, which is based on differences in esteem and honor, is an ancient and universal form of inequality which nevertheless interpenetrates modern institutions and organizations. Given its ubiquity and significance, we need to better understand the basic nature of status as a form of inequality. I argue that status hierarches are a cultural invention to organize and manage social relations in a fundamental human condition: cooperative interdependence to achieve valued goals with nested competitive interdependence to maximize individual outcomes in the effort. I consider this claim in relation to both evolutionary arguments and empirical evidence. Evidence suggests that the cultural schema of status is two-fold, consisting of a deeply learned basic norm of status allocation and a set of more explicit, variable, and changing common knowledge status beliefs that people draw on to coordinate judgments about who or what is more deserving of higher status. The cultural nature of status allows people to spread it widely to social phenomena (e.g., firms in a business field) well beyond its origins in interpersonal hierarchies. In particular, I argue, the association of status with social difference groups (e.g., race, gender, class-as-culture) gives inequalities based on those difference groups an autonomous, independent capacity to reproduce themselves through interpersonal status processes
Obrazovanje u kontekstu ekonomskog rasta i razvoja- Primer Irske [Education and Economic growth- Case study Ireland],
No full textDifferent strokes for different folks? Intra-household sharing and well-being
No full textWomen’s economic independence is considered to be one of modern society’s greatest achievements. With it has come the perception that the greatest beneficiaries in this transition have been women with partners, in particular married women, who have more personal choice than ever before in whether to work or not. Yet, this achievement has been accompanied by puzzling scientific evidence indicating that women’s well-being over the last decades has declined both in absolute terms and relative to men. This may be due to the many burdens and high personal expectations and pressures that modern women face. Similarly, men have also been found to be in an imbalanced situation in which they are potentially losing their role as major provider or breadwinner while at the same time not assuming greater responsibility for household work. This book focuses on financial well-being as a relevant dimension of individual welfare and examines whether and to what extent it can be argued that the economic independence of women—as reflected by the amount of income in their possession—contributes positively to their well-being and that of their partners. Does it make a difference for a woman whether she or her partner ‘owns’ money? Are men satisfied not to bear the main burden of providing for the family? If so, under what conditions? What forms of women’s monetary contributions matter the most and the least for women and men? The topic is examined from various perspectives, thereby contributing to the theoretical discussion while also providing a test of theory for five European countries (Denmark, the UK, France, Ireland and Italy)
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