This study analizes Labour market participation and related cultural components in three countries. In Germany a male breadwinner model is found. Men’s activity rate is much higher than the one of women. Reservations have to be made when speaking about a female part-time carer. The percentage of women working part-time is less than the half of women working full-time and women doing housework are even more than women working part-time. There is also some conflict towards the Dutch dual breadwinner/ dual carer model. The rate of women working part-time is in fact the highest in the Netherlands and also the percentage of men working part-time is higher than for Germany or even Finland, still there is no equal participation in the labour market and therefore no dual breadwinner model, at most a tendency towards. Lastly, Finland’s women are by far most integrated into the labour market when speaking of full-time employment, but speaking of full and equal integration of both sexes and therefore a dual breadwinner model is exaggerated. As regards attitudes, the total explained variance and homogeneity of factor gives some indication that there is convergence of attitudes which seems to increase when more “liberal” countries, younger respondents and women are concerned. A factor analysis showed that the importance of traditional family design is highest in Germany and least in the Netherlands, whereas affirmation of equal division of labour between the genders was highest in the Netherlands and lowest in Germany. Altogether, the analysis of attitudes (and the employment status) does with some reservations confirm the findings of Pfau-Effinger.
Table of Contents
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF ANALYSING WOMEN’S LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION
2. THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON WOMEN’S LABOUR MARKET ATTAINMENT
2.1 THEORY
2.1.1 Preliminary theories including culture
2.1.2 Pfau-Effinger’s (1996, 2000, 2005) Gender Culture Models
2.2 HYPOTHESES, METHODS AND DATA
3. RESULTS
3.1 EMPLOYMENT STATUS
3.2 ATTITUDES TOWARDS GENDER ROLES
3.3 THE RELATION OF EMPLOYMENT STATUS AND ATTITUDES
4. CONCLUSION
Research Objectives and Themes
This study aims to examine the influence of cultural factors on women's labour market participation across three distinct European welfare states: Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands. By utilizing data from the European and World Values Studies, the research explores how attitudes toward gender roles and family structure relate to actual employment patterns, testing whether these nations align with specific gender-culture models.
- Analysis of women's labour market participation levels across different national welfare regimes.
- Evaluation of Pfau-Effinger’s gender-culture models in explaining cross-national employment differences.
- Exploration of attitudes toward traditional family designs and equal gender divisions of labour.
- Investigation into the relationship between gender-role dispositions and actual employment status.
Excerpt from the Book
2. The Influence of Culture on Women’s Labour Market Attainment
Theoretically there are several approaches that seek to explain women’s employment patterns. Clearly, characteristics of male and female labour market participation differ considerably. Although there has been a general change in women’s education and employment patterns to the extend that equality on the labour market is not only desired but to some extend already accomplished so that women could (theoretically) have the same premises to work than men, different types of female preferences exist depending on the central priority of family and employment (Hakim 2002)
Considering several feminist approaches on welfare state policies, welfares states shape women’s employment patterns to the respect that they give or withhold incentives to paid, unpaid work or a combination of both. Those regulating mechanisms refer to explicit and implicit norms of institutions that constantly adjust the expectations and behaviour of individuals to the general logit of societal guidelines (Mósesdóttir 1995). Similarly to the typology of Siaroff (1994) who connected “female work desirability” to the religion of a country, this indicates at least that cultural determinants like norms, values, and attitudes, shape the central priority of women, be it directly through role models or indirectly through institutions. At this point it has to be noted that although the focus in this article is on culture, to predict women’s labour market participation, neither culture nor institutional factors can explain the differences between countries on its own. Especially, when focussing institutional factors like policies, conclusions can conform correlations with women’s employment patterns, but the causal order is particularly ambiguous (Matysiak and Steinmetz 2006; Pfau-Effinger 2000; Abrahamson 1999)).
Chapter Summary
1. THE IMPORTANCE OF ANALYSING WOMEN’S LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION: Outlines the societal relevance of studying women's labour market involvement and introduces cultural and institutional factors as key determinants.
2. THE INFLUENCE OF CULTURE ON WOMEN’S LABOUR MARKET ATTAINMENT: Discusses theoretical approaches, specifically Pfau-Effinger's gender-culture models, and sets the framework for the study's hypotheses.
3. RESULTS: Presents empirical findings regarding employment status, attitudes toward gender roles, and the statistical relationship between these two variables.
4. CONCLUSION: Summarizes the study’s findings, confirms the validity of the hypotheses with some reservations, and suggests areas for future research.
Keywords
Women's labour market participation, gender-culture models, Pfau-Effinger, welfare state, employment status, gender roles, family policy, European Values Study, cultural determinants, labour market attainment, work-life balance, gender arrangements, social norms, career patterns.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the core focus of this publication?
The paper examines how cultural factors, such as values and attitudes toward family and gender roles, influence the labour market participation of women in Germany, Finland, and the Netherlands.
Which theoretical framework is primarily used?
The author primarily applies the gender-culture models developed by Birgit Pfau-Effinger to categorize and analyze how different nations structure gender relations and labour market outcomes.
What is the main research objective?
The study aims to determine if there is a statistical relationship between cultural attitudes toward family/gender and the actual employment status of women in the chosen countries.
What methodology is employed to analyze the data?
The researcher uses descriptive analysis and an exploratory factor analysis on integrated datasets from the European and World Values Studies to identify and compare cultural dispositions.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It covers preliminary theories, the application of gender-culture models to the three countries, the results of the statistical data analysis, and an assessment of the correlations between employment statuses and cultural attitudes.
Which keywords best describe the research?
Key terms include women's labour market participation, gender-culture models, welfare state policy, employment status, gender roles, and social citizenship.
How do German and Finnish attitudes differ according to the study?
The study finds that German respondents generally lean toward more traditional family design values compared to Finnish respondents, who exhibit more modern attitudes toward gender roles and labour participation.
What role does the 'Netherlands' play in the analysis?
The Netherlands is highlighted for its unique position, often showing the greatest progress in restructuring family policies toward individualized, egalitarian models while maintaining high part-time employment.
How is the relationship between 'employment' and 'attitudes' characterized?
The research concludes that a higher importance placed on traditional family designs correlates with lower women's activity rates, confirming a link between social dispositions and labor outcomes.
- Quote paper
- Melanie Rottmüller (Author), 2007, Influences on Women’s Labour Market Participation, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/117430
