Who cares? UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM MASTER THESIS SOCIOLOGY. The division of care and paid work for first-time parents in the Netherlands

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1 UNIVERSITY OF AMSTERDAM MASTER THESIS SOCIOLOGY Who cares? The division of care and paid work for first-time parents in the Netherlands Author: Mirjam Verweij / First supervisor: Daniela Grunow Second supervisor: Caroline Wilde August 2012

2 Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Research problem and questions 3 3 The Netherlands Government support Recent developments Theoretical Framework Gender equality, division of paid work and caregiving Essentialist explanation Culture and socialization Structure of the labour market Relation between structure and culture Ideals of Care Care and Ideology Full-time motherhood Parental sharing Intergenerational care Professional care Surrogate mothers Relation between ideals of care and gender Expectations The data 29 6 Method of analysis Narrative approach Coding Findings Gender equality ideals and division of care and paid work

3 7.1.1 Ideals and practice Economic Provider Labour market structure Difference in earnings Gender fairness Parental leave Cultural ideas and Socialization Ideals of care Professional care Full time mothering Surrogate mothers Intergenerational care or family care Parental sharing Results Gender equality and division of care and paid work Ideals of care Conclusion and Recommendations Gender equality and division of care and paid work Ideals of care Recommendations Literature 71 A Table 1 76 B Original Dutch Quotes 83

4 1 Introduction When couples in the Netherlands become parents there are consequences of this transition. Couples are confronted with new caring tasks and therefore they need to divide these tasks among themselves and/ or with other people or institutions. Who cares for the children and what determines parents possibilities and preferences? Former research showed that with the transition to parenthood, the woman s participation in domestic work increases where the man s participation in domestic work declines. These changes mean a more traditional division of domestic work and paid work (Wiesmann, Boeije, van Doorne-Huiskes and den Dulk, 2008). This traditional division results in a difference between mothers and fathers in the time they spent with their children and a difference between men and women in their division of time between paid work and domestic work (Merens, van den Brakel, Hartgers and Hermans, 2010). This difference in time spend on paid work also lead to differences in earnings, career perspectives, pension rights and more differences between men and women, related to paid work and income. These results contradict the ideal of gender equality which the majority of the Dutch men and women share ( Merens et al., 2010). The ideal of gender equality is based on the idea of men and women having the same rights and abilities to perform care and paid work. The ideal of gender equality being dominant in the Netherlands is a recent development, until the 1980 s the dominant ideal in the Netherlands has been that of the male breadwinner (Morel, 2007; Plantenga, 1996). This recent change makes the Netherlands an interesting case, what are the practical consequences of these new ideals about gender? Is it possible to practice the ideal of gender equality in the Netherlands? How are parents influenced by these recent ideals and recent changes and what is the role of the breadwinner model they grew up with? And how are they restricted or stimulated by regulations of the labour market in their decision making?

5 1 Introduction Page 2 This qualitative study aims to give an insight into the decision making of Dutch couples, about their division of care and paid work. At the same time it aims to give insight into their decision making about the care for their children. What care do they believe to be appropriate and how does this relate to their division of paid work and care and to their equalitarian gender ideals?

6 2 Research problem and questions The problem I want to formulate for my research is the division of care and paid work of new parents and how these divisions are related to the Dutch society. I aim to give an insight into which factors are determinant in these divisions and how the Dutch society as a context might restrict or stimulate certain divisions of paid work and care for different couples. I focus on the structure of the Dutch labour market and at the same time on the role of Dutch culture. The structure of the Dutch labour market in this context means working hours, differences in payment, and opportunities for taking parental leave. The culture of the Dutch society refers to the existence of equalitarian or non equalitarian gender ideals, ideals of childcare and how parents are influenced by former generations and by socialization. For my research I use interviews with Dutch men and women who recently became parents or are expecting their first child. In these interviews the men and women are asked about care and paid work individually and also together in a joint interview. Questions which can be asked in relation to this research problem are the following: Which factors determine parents decision-making about childcare? How are the divisions and decisions parents make related to the structure of the labour market? How are the divisions and decisions parents make related to the culture of the Dutch society? Are determinant factors in the structure and the culture related, are they coexisting or contradicting? How are parents influenced by their own parent s division of care and paid work?

7 2 Research problem and questions Page 4 These questions will be answered by focusing on the respondents lines of reasoning when explaining their preferences and practices. The reason for using interviews with new parents is because these respondents are confronted with new caring tasks which they have to fit into their daily lives. This means they have to think about divisions and different possibilities. I expect to find an influence of both structure and culture, and therefore variation between the couples. Since the entry of women to the labour market in the Netherlands is very recent and comes after a long tradition of the male breadwinner model being the common division of care and paid work, these are relevant questions. This research aims to give an insight into the consequences of this entry of women on the labour market for the division of care, paid work and for childcare.

8 3 The Netherlands The Netherlands are known for their long tradition of the breadwinner model being the common division of care and paid work, where the man works full-time outside the house and the woman works in the house and cares for the children. The popularity of the breadwinner model in the Netherlands can be explained in different ways, by a combination of different factors. For example Janneke Plantenga explains the low labour participation of women in the Netherlands by a combination of high economic wealth, the mental and cultural climate and the structure of the society being based on four pillars (Plantenga, 1993). These four pillars were Catholic, Protestant, social democratic and neutral and together helped to keep the norm in place that the only role for women was being at home and being a mother (Kremer, 2007). These pillars seem to have had a strong influence over the culture as well as the structure of the Netherlands. Plantenga does not see a clear causal relation between these factors and the low labour participation, she concludes both were reconfirming and legitimizing each other (Plantenga, 1993). A similar but slightly different explanation is given by Hettie Pott-Buter who, alongside the explanations given by Plantenga, also believes the Dutch women s preference to care for their own children is an explanation for their relatively low labour participation (Pott-Buter, 1993). Until the late 1980 s the Netherlands was the country with the lowest participation of women on the labour market. In the 1980 a revolution started in the Netherlands, the Dutch women demanded to work. This development can be explained by the higher education of women, the decrease of family size and the relative level of wages which made work more rewarding than caregiving (Plantenga, 1996; Visser, 2002). The main reason for women to go to work was for social contact and their own development. Financial reasons were not the most important, ranking fifth on the list of reasons to go to work (Kremer, 2007) Plantenga explains this revolution by the deconstruction of the ideological climate in the Netherlands, as caused by the deconstruction of the pillars (Plantenga, 1993). Ac-

9 3 The Netherlands Page 6 cording to Plantenga this results in an unstoppable up-march of the working (married) woman (Plantenga, 1993). Pott-Buter on the other hand, sees the fact that women in the Netherlands mostly work part time as an indicator of still existing influences from the past (Pott-Buter, 1993). Typical to the Netherlands is the high percentage of women working part-time. Therefore although most women nowadays do work in the Netherlands, because of this limited amount of hours the gender gap is still the biggest in Europe (Kremer, 2007). This high percentage of women working part-time is typical to the Netherlands because of some very specific developments. First of all, when the Dutch women entered the labour market there where almost no facilities for childcare (Bussemaker, 1998; Morel, 2007; Pascall and Lewis, 2004; Plantenga, 1996; Visser, 2002). This lack of facilities made working part-time the (only) way for these women to combine working and caring for their families (Plantenga, 1996; Visser, 2002). Another development in the Netherlands which differs form other countries is the validation of part-time work. In the Netherlands part-time workers are better protected and have more rights than part-time workers in other countries (Morel, 2007). In the Netherlands part-time workers are also able to join unions and therefore they can profit from collective labour agreements (Visser, 2002). Specifically the women in the Netherlands are mostly content with working parttime, the one and a half earner model where the women works part-time and the men full-time is very popular in the Netherlands (Merens et al, 2011). A possible explanation of the popularity of part-time work is the fact that Dutch women come from a non-working tradition and therefore part-time work can be described as a progression. This is in contrast to the case for example in Belgium or France where working part-time can be viewed as a step back because these women come from a fulltime employment tradition and have to work part-time because of a period of high unemployment rates (Visser, 2002). The question now is, is this part-time work model a transitional model to parental sharing (Kremer, 2007; Visser, 2002). The idea of part-time work is that this gives both men and women the opportunity to work and care (Morel, 2007; Pascall and Lewis, 2004). In practice, the ideal of part-time work for women seems to be a standard practice

10 3 The Netherlands Page 7 in the Netherlands, women have adapted to the model of part-time work whereas men kept working full-time (Kremer, 2007). The hours women now work instead of care are not compensated for by men caring more (Schwierz, 2006). This can be called a care squeeze, women work more and care less while men keep the same working hours resulting in less hours of caregiving (Lewis et al, 2008). Thus the caregiving has to be (part-time) outsourced to other people or institutions as discussed before with the ideals of care. In summary, in the Netherlands part-time work is more accepted than in other countries. Part-time workers have more rights and are better protected. For women, working part-time is a way to combine care and paid work. The parttime work model does not seem to be a transitional model to parental sharing because in the Netherlands generally only women adapted to this model, while men did not reduce their working hours (Kremer, 2007; Visser, 2002). Besides working hours, an other important factor in the sharing of care and work is the option for parents to take up parental leave. In 2009, 41% of the Dutch women with the right to take parental leave used this right and 19% of the men (Merens et al.,2011). The actual regulations for parental leave in the Netherlands are described in the section Maternal and Parental leave. In the Netherlands all parents have the same rights to take parental leave, but the actual agreements vary because of different collective agreements due to the Dutch system of different unions (Bruning and Plantenga, 1999). Therefore some employers have more beneficial regulations than the national regulations ( Bruning and Plantenga, 1999). For example, the public sector receive paid parental leave, while workers in other sectors receive unpaid parental leave ( Bruning and Plantenga, 1999). In my research I will therefore pay attention to the role actual regulations play in parents decisions on parental leave. 3.1 Government support Compared to other European countries, parents in the Netherlands do not receive much financial compensation for the costs of their children from the government

11 3 The Netherlands Page 8 (Knijn and van Oorschot, 2008). This can be seen as a result of the long breadwinner tradition where the men earned enough to have the women at home caring for the children. Therefore there was no need for professional childcare or arrangements like parental leave. Nowadays most of the women work in the Netherlands but the financial compensation for children from the government still has low priority (Knijn and van Oorschot, 2008). The vast majority of the Dutch parents themselves also believe that parents are responsible for caring for their children and not the government. Therefore the social support for more financial compensation for parents in the Netherlands in general is low (Knijn and van Oorschot, 2008). There are some groups which are more supportive of financial compensation, these are especially the higher educated women and the lone parents (Knijn and van Oorschot, 2008). Having children in the Netherlands is seen as a private matter and is therefore very costly compared to other European countries. This can be seen as a result of the long breadwinner tradition and is at the seem time as being maintained by the Dutch culture of parents preferring to care for their children by themselves. 3.2 Recent developments Labour In % of Dutch women between the age of 15 and 64 were employed for at least 12 hours a week. This means the Netherlands has one of the highest population of women in the labour force in Europe. However this does not equal the amount of time spent in the labour as only 26% of these woman are working fulltime (Merens et al., 2011). This shows as stated before, most Dutch women are working and most of them are working part time. Not only mothers are working part-time, also women with no children are working less hours than men (Merens et al., 2011). Recent figures also show the most popular model for couples with children is the combination of one parent (usually the father) working full-time and one parent (usually the mother) working part-time (Merens et al.,2011). The number of mothers who cite their caring tasks as a reason not to work has been declining since In 2009 this amount was half of that in Among

12 3 The Netherlands Page 9 men less than 1% cite having children as a reason not to work (Merens et al., 2011). Most women who become mothers reduce their working hours while there is no significant change in men s hours when they become fathers (Lewis et al, 2008; Merens et al., 2011). Childcare Childcare facilities in the Netherlands had not been well developed until the 1990 s. As previously mentioned, in the first period of women entering the labour market, there was a lack of childcare facilities which led to women working parttime (Plantenga, 1996; Visser, 2002). Policies aimed at women s participation on the labour market have been better developed than policies concerning caregiving (Pascall and Lewis, 2004). There has also been a set of policies to promote parental sharing instead of other forms of childcare, these are the policies which promote part-time work and flexible working hours and parental leave (Morel, 2007). These policies where based on the assumption that the family is the best provider of care (Morel, 2007). As stated before, these policies did not lead to practices of parental sharing, although Dutch men do tend to care more for their children than men in other countries (Kremer, 2007). An important aspect to know about the Netherlands compared to other countries is the fact that the children do not go to school before the age of four. This is later than in most other countries where younger children also go to a form of school. This means that the period for which Dutch parents need childcare or parental leave is longer than in other countries. Since the new government policies in 1990, professional childcare experienced an enormous expansion, according to Egbert Jongen, who has researched recent developments in childcare in the Netherlands (Jongen, 2008). The biggest expansion was in 2005 with the implementation of a new law on childcare which made professional childcare cheaper for parents (Jongen, 2008, Merens et al., 2011). This law did lead to a growth in the professional childcare, although not all of this was related to an increase in women s participation in the labour market. About 50% of the growth was caused by an increasing participation by women but the other 50% was due to parents changing informal childcare,

13 3 The Netherlands Page 10 like intergenerational care, for professional childcare (Jongen, 2008). Another option for parents in the Netherlands since 2005 is to pay a surrogate mother with a subsidy from the government, this leaves the parents free to choose the kind of childcare they prefer. The surrogate mother does not have to be a professional but does need to be registered. Thus this subsidy could be used, and it was by a lot of parents, to pay a family member or friend and then share the benefits (Jongen, 2008). Since 2010 the rules became more strict regarding the subsidy for surrogate mothers because the costs expanded too much and the effect on labour participation appeared insignificant. For the same reason a new law will be implemented in 2013 which is going to cut back on some of the subsidy for professional childcare. The opinions of the Dutch people regarding childcare depend very much on the age of the child. For children younger than two year old, most people do not approve of childcare. Although the acceptation is increasing when compared to a couple of years ago. For children of age two and older, most people believe that attending a daycare a few days a week is fine. Women are more positive about professional childcare than men (Merens et al.,2011). When asked about the best care for children, a lot of Dutch people believe that the parents are the best carers. A small majority of Dutch men, 55%, believe the mother to be the best carer. These are mostly men with no children. Of the fathers 45 % believe that the mother is the best carer for a child (Merens et al.,2011). This ideal of the mother being the best carer for the child seems to contradict with the ideal of gender equality. This ambivalence has also been found in Finnland by Satu Perälä, by asking Finnish informants to describe good mothers and good fathers. She found a discrepancy between ideals of gender equality and the ideals of fatherhood and motherhood (Perälä, 2007). This ambivalence between ideals of gender equality and ideals of care can be seen as a discrepancy between structure and culture, as stated before. Because both structure and culture influence decision making, this discrepancy can lead to different practices. These practices can mean the choice for a certain ideal or combination of ideals of care. The women in the Netherlands are recently content with the amount of professional childcare available (Lewis et al, 2008).This indi-

14 3 The Netherlands Page 11 cates that nowadays, the lack of childcare facilities is no longer an explanation for the fact that Dutch women work part-time. When we look at the use of childcare we see that the amount of people using professional childcare is comparable with Scandinavia, which is known for their professional childcare. But because most women in the Netherlands work parttime, the children go to a daycare centre part-time (Jongen, 2008). Most children who go to a professional daycare centre go there for two or three days a week (Merens et al.,2011). It is common for parents in the Netherlands to make a childcare puzzle which means they combine different kinds of childcare (Kremer, 2007). Maternal leave and Parental leave In the Netherlands, a pregnant woman has the right to take 16 weeks of maternal leave. She can start this period of leave six weeks before she expects her child to be born. In this period of 16 weeks, and six weeks after her leave, the woman can not be fired and she gets paid 100% of her salary. This salary is paid by the government. A man who becomes a father has the right to take two days of paternal leave, these two days are fully paid as well. The father has to take these two days within four weeks after the child is born, or when the child is born in a hospital, within four weeks after the child comes home. After this period of maternal and paternal leave, parents in the Netherlands have the right to take parental leave. This parental leave is a right, this means an employer can not refuse this leave to an employee. Parental leave in the Netherlands means the right of parents to reduce their working hours in order to take care of their family (Morel, 2007). Parental leave in the Netherlands is based on the principle of the government that every parent should get the change to spend enough time on the upbringing of their children (Rijksoverheid.nl). Therefore these parental leave policies seem to be based on the ideal of parental sharing. At the same time, for most parents parental leave is unpaid, this indicates that the parents who can afford it or the

15 3 The Netherlands Page 12 parents with the more beneficial arrangements are getting more change to spend time with their children. Parents can take 26 times the hours they work a week, per child. They can take parental leave until their child is eight years old and they have to take their leave in one period (Rijksoverheid.nl). Some parents have a different agreement with their employer about their payment during parental leave and others have a collective agreement about different regulations (Bruning and Plantenga, 1999). These agreements can only be more beneficial for the employe because the national regulations are rights which employers cannot refuse. Women take more parental leave than men (Morel, 2007). An explanation for this difference can be found in the wage difference between men and women, therefore it costs more for a couple when the men takes parental leave. Other explanations are that men derive their identity and status form their work and that they work in different sectors than women. Therefore they have less beneficial agreements (Bruning and Plantenga, 1999). There is a difference between men and women in the way that they take their parental leave. Women generally take more hours a week over a shorter time frame. Whereas men tend to spread their leave over a longer period, e.g. taking one day a week (Merens et al.,2011). Gender equality The most popular ideal of gender division is the ideal of gender equality, about half of the men and women in the Netherlands claim to have this ideal. In comparison with the ideal of the breadwinner, 8% of both men and women believe the breadwinner model to be ideal. Besides the gender equality model, the one and a half earner model is popular. This is the model where the men work full-time and the women part-time (Merens et al.,2011). This shows us that as an ideal the gender equality model is very popular while in reality the one and a half earner model is most practiced in the Netherlands (Visser, 2002). When asked about the discrepancy between the ideal of gender equality and actual practices, economic reasons are more often given as an explanation than cultural

16 3 The Netherlands Page 13 reasons (Merens et al.,2011).

17 4 Theoretical Framework In my research I aim to give an insight into how parents in the Netherlands divide their caring tasks and paid work between themselves and with other caregivers or institutions. I will not only aim to give insight into their actual divisions but also into their motivations for these divisions and factors which are determinant for their decision making. In this chapter I aim to develop a theoretical framework, based on the state of research and findings on the division of care and paid work and possible explanations for parent s divisions. Subsequently, I will describe different ideals of care which can determine choices parents make about the care for their children and therefore also play a role in the division of care and paid work. In the final part of this chapter I will describe the parenting context of the Netherlands. 4.1 Gender equality, division of paid work and caregiving An important aspect of equality between men and women is their division of paid work and care. The ideal of gender equality is based on the ideal of men and women having the same rights and the same abilities to perform care and paid work. This ideal does not necessarily mean that men and women do exactly the same but is does mean that the have the same rights to make choices about care and paid work. In the Netherlands, women have en mass entered the labour force since the 1980 s (Morel, 2007; Plantenga, 1996). This movement changed specifically the patterns of paid work and therefore the structure of the labour market. At the same time, this increase in women s working hours has not been complemented by men taking over caring tasks (Pascall and Lewis, 2004; Schwierz, 2006; Visser, 2002). Many researchers have shown unequal divisions of paid work and especially of

18 4 Theoretical Framework Page 15 care between men and women, resulting in women giving more care than men, independent of their working hours (Gerstel, 2000; Haas, 1982; Lewis, 2001; Lewis, Campbell and Huerta, 2008; Mandel and Semyonov, 2005; Pascall and Lewis, 2004; Plantenga, 1996; Schwierz, 2006; Visser, 2002). There are different explanations for this unequal division. Naomi Gerstel distinguishes four kinds of explanations, an essentialist explanation, a cultural explanation, a structural explanation and internalization or socialization as an explanation (Gerstel, 2000). In my research I will focus on these explanations. I aim to give insight into how they are reflected in the respondents narratives and at the same time how they can co-exist, interact or contradict Essentialist explanation An essentialist explanation of the gendered division of labour and care is based on assumed biological differences between men and women. Which for example can lead to the assumption that all women are naturally more caring than all men (Gerstel, 2000, Miller, 2011). An essentialist explanation of a gendered division will be that this gendered division is naturally occurring and caused by essential differences between men and women (Miller, 2011). This essentialism suits the male breadwinner model, which is based on the assumption that men are better workers and women better carers. The essentialist framework has been heavily contested by many feminists and nowadays there is more attention on the social and cultural production of difference (Miller, 2011). The male breadwinner model is disappearing (Kremer, 2007) and therefore this essentialist explanation and justification of a gendered division of labour and care is likely to loose ground as well. Although a last remaining justification for a gendered division of care is the ability of women to breastfeed, which is still associated with women being at home with the child (Fox, 2009) Culture and socialization Another explanation for the unequal division of care and work in couples is a cultural explanation. A cultural explanation refers to ideologies, norms and values to be determinant to couples divisions of paid work and care. Different ideologies,

19 4 Theoretical Framework Page 16 norms and values can exist at the same time and influence men and women in different ways. There might, for example be an ambivalence between the ideal of gender equality and ideals of good parenthood, for example the ideal of the intensive mother. The ideal of intensive mothering or full-time motherhood is a cultural concept which influences ideologies of care. In both Canada and in the UK, the ideal of the mother being the best carer for a child is strong, and influences women in their choices regarding work and care (Fox, 2009; Miller, 2005). The ideal of gender equality is based on the assumption that both men and women are equal which means the are both equally able to care for their children, where the ideal of the full-time or intensive mother is based on the idea that the mother is the best carer for a child. This ambivalence can lead to different practices. Another cultural influence, which contradicts less with the ideal of gender equality, might be the changed culture of fatherhood. Over the past decades, a lot has been written about the new fatherhood and a new discourse of the involved father (Sanchez and Thomson, 1997). What the ideal of the new or involved father precisely contains appears to be not exactly clear, but most descriptions pertain to more emotional involvement and more caring tasks for the father. For example, Miller describes the involved father as being associated with emotional engagement, being involved, active, sensitive, intimate and positive and opposed to the previous father, who was associated with economic provision or absence (Miller, 2011). In order to clarify the concept, Dermott calls the involved father an intimate father who is associated with emotional openness, communication and close relationships to children (Dermott, 2003). What is important about the new ideal of fatherhood is the question whether this new ideal actually does exists in practice. Ralph LaRossa makes a difference between the culture of fatherhood and the conduct of fatherhood (LaRossa, 1988). According to LaRossa, the culture of fatherhood changed, which means the new ideal of fatherhood does exist. LaRossa explains the conduct of fatherhood with the actual practices and behavior of fathers, which he states has not significantly changed while the culture of fatherhood did change (LaRossa, 1988). Important to note is that LaRossa wrote his conclusions on the new culture of fatherhood in It will be interesting to analyze how more recently this changed culture of fatherhood influences couples in their division of care and labour.

20 4 Theoretical Framework Page 17 Besides an ambivalence between different ideals of gender equality and ideals of parenthood, these different and changed ideals can also be co-existing. For example, men can believe they have to be the main provider and at the same time share the ideal of being an involved father. Parents can be influenced by different ideals at the same time, which does not have to lead to a choice between ideals but can also lead to a combination of different ideals, or a compromise between them. Cultural ideals influence people on an individual level in different ways. According to Linda Haas, indirect determinant in the amount of caring activities taken on by men is their education (Haas, 1982). Men with a higher and longer education are more likely to be confronted with debates on gender roles and therefore these men are less likely to take traditional sex roles for granted (Haas, 1982). This effect of education is also related to the fact that most of these men are married to women who paid attention to the debate on sex roles (Haas, 1982). Also, mass media influences specially men and their participation in caring, in the same indirect way education does (Haas, 1982). The process of influence by education and mass media can be called socialization. This means hegemonic ideas and practices influence peoples experiences and expectations. Another way in which socialization takes place is by the influences of former generations. Socialization as an explanation for gendered division in couples is specially interesting in the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, former generations have mostly been practicing the breadwinner model. Thus most of the couples who are becoming parents nowadays have been brought up with parents practicing this model. According to Gerstel, socialization is not the most important determinant of gendered divisions but it does play a role in combination with other determinants (Gerstel, 2000). Cultural ideas can also influence people at a policy level, policy makers can be influenced by certain cultural ideas like essentialist ideas about gender (Bussemaker, 1998) or ideas about care (Morel, 2007). As described before in the chapter about the Netherlands, the policies of the Dutch government have long been influenced by the cultural ideal of the male breadwinner (Knijn and van Oorschot, 2008).

21 4 Theoretical Framework Page 18 Policies can also be a reaction to cultural changes like childcare policies being a reaction to women entering the labour market (Visser, 2002). These examples show a relation between culture and structure, more on this relation will be addressed later in this chapter Structure of the labour market Gender inequality in relation to the decision on paid work and care can also be explained by looking at the structure of the labour market. Different researchers see this structure as determinant for these divisions (Gerstel, 2000; Lewis et al, 2008). Important structural determinants of the labour market are the differences in salary between men and women and the differences in their working hours. At the same time, differences in working hours and therefore in earnings seem to be the results of decision making of couples when they become parents (Grunow, Schulz and Blossfeld, 2012). In their research on the division of care and labour among couples Grunow et al have found that the transition of parenthood can lead to a gendered division of care and labour (Grunow et al, 2012). This gendered division than results in a difference in working hours and earnings. Therefore these differences can at the same time be seen as a determinant of divisions of care and labour, as well as a result of a certain division of care and labour. The structure of the labour market has long been based on the assumption of men having the responsibility to earn and women having the responsibility to care (Lewis, 2001).These assumptions have led to the male breadwinner model. In the breadwinner model, the man is responsible for the economic provision for the family. An therefore needs to earn enough for the family unit. This breadwinner model can be an explanation for the gap between men s earnings and women s earnings which, according to Mandel and Semyonov, still exists in all countries (Mandel and Semyonov, 2005). This gap, the gender earnings gap, means that men earn more than women and women are therefore being economically disadvantaged and dependent (Mandel and Semyonov, 2005). Besides the former dominant model of the male breadwinner, there are other reasons why women tend to earn less money than men. One reason is the amount of hours women work

22 4 Theoretical Framework Page 19 compared to men, many women work part-time, especially in the Netherlands but also in other countries (Lewis et al, 2008; Morel, 2007; Pascall and Lewis, 2004; Plantega, 1996). This difference in working hours can be called the one and a half earner model or the one and three quarters earner models, depending on the magnitude of this difference (Lewis et al, 2008). Besides the gender earning gap which exists even when men and women have the same job and work the same hours. Women who work part-time while their male partners work full-time automatically earn less. Working hours can also be related to different sectors of employment. Women tend to work more in the service sector which is know to be more suitable for part-time work and flexible working hours (Visser, 2002). Working hours, and specially the working hours of the women, are an important factor in the sharing of childcare. For example Linda Haas had found in her research in Sweden that the closer the female of a couple is to being a breadwinner, the more the male cares for their children (Haas, 1982). By being close to being a breadwinner, Haas implies working hours and earnings (Haas 1982). Other aspects of the labour market structure which are important for gender relations are family friendly policies, i.e. maternal and paternal leave and parental leave. Family friendly policies are aimed at reducing the conflict between demands of paid work and caring demands for both men and women but in practice are mainly aimed at women (Mandel and Semyonov, 2005). The effect of family friendly policies is ambiguous because they also cause women to be away from their work for a longer time which can lead to disadvantages on the labour market (Mandel and Semyonov, 2005). Also the provision of childcare facilities seems to be an important structural determinant, related to the labour market. In the Netherlands there has been a lack of childcare facilities until the 1990 s (Bussemaker, 1998; Visser, 2002). This lack of childcare facilities is believed to have been the reason why women in the Netherlands entered the labour market at a part-time basis instead of at a fulltime basis ( Plantenga, 1996; Visser, 2002). Childcare also seems more expensive in the Netherlands than in other European countries, especially for dual earners, which may influence couples decision making about costs and benefits of working mothers (Kremer, 2007). Kremers also states that good childcare is an important

23 4 Theoretical Framework Page 20 determinant for the participation of women in the labour market (Kremer, 2007). In summary, the most important determinants for the division of paid work and care, related to the structure of the labour market, are the difference in earnings, working hours, family friendly policies and childcare facilities. The differences in earnings and working hours can at the same time be results of a division of paid work and care, this research aims to give insight into this relation Relation between structure and culture According to Bonnie Fox, ideals about gender divisions are determined by culture and established by structure (Fox 2009). Fox states that many social policies assume certain gender divisions and also partly promote them (Fox, 2009). An example of this relation are the policies which promoted and served the breadwinner model. The ideal of gender equality is associated with the ideal of parental sharing, whereby it is assumed that both men and women are equally equipped to care for children (Kremer, 2007). According to Kremer, the ideal of parental sharing is difficult in practice. In reality caring and parenting are highly gendered practices (Kremer, 2007). One of the main reasons for this difficulty is the great structural revolutions which must take place in order to establish the conditions to make this ideal of care, based on the ideal of gender equality, possible (Hochschild, 1995). The practice of equality lags behind the ideal of equality (Haas, 1982). An example of the relation between culture and structure is given by West and Zimmerman, who explain gendered behavior by the existence of gender norms which are both determined and constructed by men and women s behavior (West and Zimmerman, 1987). These gender norms are not only reconstructed by the behavior of men and women but they are organized in institutional arrangements which, by individuals collectively conforming to these norms, are being sustained, reproduced and rendered legitimate (West and Zimmerman, 1987). When individuals do not conform to the appropriate gender norms, they may be called to account by society, but this does not necessarily lead to institutional changes. Insti-

24 4 Theoretical Framework Page 21 tutions always represent the dominant, hegemonic gender norms (West and Zimmerman, 1987). In this way, West and Zimmerman make the connection between culture and structure, by stating that the norms which are cultural are organized in institutions which are structural. As stated before, an important example of this culture organized in structure is maternal and parental leave (Fox, 2009) and also policies concerning childcare facilities (Bussemaker, 1998). Another example is the labour market structure which gives men and women different possibilities and limitations, e.g. difference in salaries or possibilities to work part-time (Kremer, 2007). By making this connection between culture and structure, these two concepts seem possible to complement and reinforce each other instead of always contradicting each other. At the same time, as previously stated, due to culture and structure being related, change in either culture or structure is likely to affect the other.. Changes of culture and changes of structure do not necessarily happen simultaneously which can lead to discrepancy, this can make changes in practice complicated. According to Bühlmann, Elcherot and Tettamanti this is a loose relation which creates gaps and even paradoxes between egalitarian ideals and gendered practices (Bühlmann, Elcherot and Tettamanti, 2009). Bühlmann et al found the paradox between egalitarian ideals and gendered practices is related to the transition to parenthood. They found this to be a contemporary paradox of the current generation of parents (Bühlmann et al., 2009). In their research into this paradox, carried out in different countries, they have observed that this shift to a more gendered behavior, related to the transition to parenthood, can be mitigated by government policies (Bühlmann et al., 2009). Thus implying that this paradox is country specific, as most policies are country specific. The policies in the Netherlands are described in the former chapter on the Netherlands.

25 4 Theoretical Framework Page Ideals of Care The transition from the breadwinner model to a model where women also participate on the labour market, demands specific arrangements such as childcare (Bruning and Plantenga, 1999). Different forms of childcare are available to parents which means couples need to make a choice about the kind of childcare they prefer. Reasons for choosing a certain kind of childcare can be based on practical reasons such as availability or finances but also on ideology or preference (Hakim, 2003). In this chapter I will describe various ideals of care and how they relate to different ideals of gender equality Care and Ideology When a couple chooses a certain form of childcare based on a certain ideology, we can call this a care ideal. An ideal means more than just a practical choice of what fits parents situation, it also incorporates a moral decision. Looking at the choice of childcare couples make and the reasons they use to explain this choice, can give us insight into couples ideals about what kind of care they believe is best for their children (Kremer, 2007: 71). In relating ideals of care to ideals of gender equality, parents choice of childcare can at the same time give insight into their gender equality ideals. The different ideals of care I will describe in this chapter and later use in the analysis of the data, are constructed by Monique Kremer. According to Kremer, these ideals are constructed for analytical purpose, but are not used as ideal types in the Weberian way. This is because they are real types of ideals which exist in different welfare societies (Kremer, 2007: 72). Kremer relates ideals of care to national family and labour market policies. As discussed in the chapter on the Netherlands, the Dutch government does leave room for parents to make different decisions about the care for their children and about their division of labour. Therefore couples in the Netherlands can have different ideals at the same time which can lead to different practices of care and of work. By using different ideals as a reflection of ideals of gender I aim to give insight into the co-existence of these different ideals on a couple-level, in contrast to Kremer who uses these ideals as a reflection on a national level. At the same time, in this research I attempt

26 4 Theoretical Framework Page 23 to give insight into the relation between ideals and practices of care and gender. The ideal types constructed by Kremer are: Full-time mother care, Parental sharing, Intergenerational care, Professional care and Surrogate mothers Full-time motherhood The ideal of full-time motherhood is the most traditional ideal of care. For this ideal it is necessary that the mother is always with her child, which in most cases means the mother has to be at home. Being at home and caring for a child leaves no possibility for a woman to do paid work. Therefore the woman depends on either her male partner for her financial support or the state (Kremer, 2007). The ideal of full time motherhood is closely related to the breadwinner model where the man works outside the house to earn a living and the woman stays at home to care for the house and the children. In this ideal the mother, and therefore the woman, is the best carer for the child and the best location for this care is the home. The frequency of the care is full-time and the purpose of this kind of care is to establish a strong bond between mother and child, which is believed to be essential for the child s development (Fox, 2009). This ideal of full-time motherhood can also be called the traditional ideal (Hochschild, 1995). Hochschild describes this ideal of care as retiring the woman to the house and as being, in general, imposed by modern states in which men have the power to impose hegemonic ideals. Because families have shrunk and more women want to work outside the house to become independent of their husband, Hochschild believes more and more women will resist the ideal of full-time mothering (Hochschild, 1995). Kremer implies the same trend by stating that the ideal of full-time mothering is slowly fading away and being replaced by other ideals of care (Kremer, 2007) Parental sharing The ideal of parental sharing is based on the assumption that men and women are both equally capable of caring for a child. In this ideal parents care for their own children at their own homes. The ideal of parental sharing is based on the assumption that the involvement of

27 4 Theoretical Framework Page 24 the father is important for the child s development (Cabrera et al, 2000, Fägerskiold, 2008; Marsiglio et al, 2000). This in contradiction to the ideal of full-time mothering where the role of the father is not seen as important for the child. In this ideal the father has the right to make the choice to be an involved father. Also in this ideal, childcare is seen as a private matter. Parents still care for their own children and can decide for themselves how they share this care. The ideal of parental sharing is based on the assumption that the family is the best provider of childcare (Morel, 2007). An opportunity to work part-time is needed in order for parents to be able to practice this kind of ideal. Working and caring are both equally important in this ideal, which means both man and woman care and work in this model. This means the total labour participation stays the same, ideally men will reduce their working hours while women will increase their working hours (Esping- Andersen, 1999). States can promote or support this ideal by supporting or encouraging people to work part-time or by giving both parents the opportunity to take parental leave. In the Netherlands part-time work has been promoted by giving part-time workers access to unions and collective agreements (Visser, 2002). In some states, e.g. Norway and Sweden, fathers get daddy leave which is a kind of parental leave with special rules for men, to promote the ideal of parental sharing (Kremer, 2009) The ideal of parental sharing fits into the warm-modern model of Arlie Hochschild. Hochschilds states that revolutions in the working place, participation of men in the home, and the valuing of care are necessary to bring this ideal into practice (Hochschild, 1995). The warm-modern model is a combination of parental sharing and professional care. Because the warm- modern model of care, as constructed by Hochschild involves institutional care, it is not exactely the same as the ideal of parental sharing as constructed by Kremer. Due to the revolutions needed to put parental sharing into practice, as stated earlier, the warm-modern model may be a more realistic ideal. At the same time, this might be country specific because different revolutions are needed in different countries, for example in Norway and Sweden parental leave for father is already promoted whereas in the Netherlands part-time work is promoted by the government (Kremer, 2009).