130 lines
4.3 KiB
YAML
130 lines
4.3 KiB
YAML
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abstract: 'Purpose This research article explores several questions about assessing
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the impacts of fathers'' parental leave take up and gender equality. We
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ask: How does the conceptual and contextual specificity of care and
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equality shape what we focus on, and how, when we study parental leave
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policies and their impacts? What and how are we measuring?
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Design/methodology/approach The article is based on a longitudinal
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qualitative research study on families with fathers who had taken
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parental leave in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and Quebec), which
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included interviews with 26 couples in the first stage (25 mother/father
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couples and one father/father couple) and with nine couples a decade
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later. Guided by Margaret Somers'' historical sociology of concept
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formation, we explore the concepts of care and equality (and their
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histories, networks, and narratives) and how they are taken up in
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parental leave research. We also draw on insights from three feminist
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scholars who have made major contributions to theoretical intersections
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between care, work, equality, social protection policies, and care
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deficits: Nancy Fraser, Joan Williams, and Martha Fineman. Findings The
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relationship between fathers'' leave-taking and gender equality impacts
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is a complex, non-linear entanglement shaped by the specificities of
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state and employment policies and by how these structure parental
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eligibility for leave benefits, financial dimensions of leave-taking
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(including wage replacement rates for benefits), childcare
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possibilities/limitations and related financial dimensions for families,
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masculine work norms in workplaces, and intersections of gender and
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social class. Overall, we found that maximizing both parental leave time
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and family income in order to sustain good care for their children
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(through paid and unpaid leave time, followed by limited and expensive
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childcare services) was articulated as a more immediate concern to
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parents than were issues of gender equality. Our research supports the
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need to draw closer connections between parental leave, childcare, and
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workplace policies to better understand how these all shape parental
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leave decisions and practices and possible gender equality outcomes.
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Originality/value We call for a move toward thinking about care, not as
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care time, but as responsibilities, which can be partly assessed through
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the stories people tell about how they negotiate and navigate care,
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domestic work, and paid work responsibilities in specific contexts and
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conditions across time. We also advocate for gender equality concepts
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that attend to how families navigate restrictive parental leave and
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childcare policies and how broader socio-economic inequalities arise
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partly from state policies underpinned by a concept of liberal
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autonomous subjects rather than relational subjects who face moments of
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vulnerability and inter-dependence across the life course.'
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affiliation: 'Doucet, A (Corresponding Author), Brock Univ, Dept Sociol, St Catharines,
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ON, Canada.
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Doucet, Andrea, Brock Univ, Dept Sociol, St Catharines, ON, Canada.
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McKay, Lindsey, Thompson Rivers Univ, Dept Sociol \& Anthropol, Kamloops, BC, Canada.'
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author: Doucet, Andrea and McKay, Lindsey
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author-email: adoucet@brocku.ca
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author_list:
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- family: Doucet
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given: Andrea
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- family: McKay
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given: Lindsey
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da: '2023-09-28'
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doi: 10.1108/IJSSP-04-2019-0086
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earlyaccessdate: MAR 2020
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eissn: 1758-6720
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files: []
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issn: 0144-333X
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journal: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY AND SOCIAL POLICY
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keywords: 'Canada; Gender equality; Parental leave; Policy impacts; Fathering;
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Historical sociology of concept formation'
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keywords-plus: 'CHILD-CARE; PATERNITY LEAVE; INVOLVEMENT; RESPONSIBILITIES; DIVISION;
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POLICIES; CONTEXT; SWEDEN'
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language: English
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month: JUN 8
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number: 5-6, SI
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number-of-cited-references: '77'
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orcid-numbers: Doucet, Andrea/0000-0002-6000-9029
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pages: 441-463
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papis_id: 6a118806d72839e7681827abbcf905c9
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ref: Doucet2020fatheringparental
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researcherid-numbers: 'Doucet, Andrea/ABE-7531-2020
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'
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times-cited: '17'
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title: 'Fathering, parental leave, impacts, and gender equality: what/how are we measuring?'
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type: Article
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unique-id: WOS:000524809900001
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usage-count-last-180-days: '3'
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usage-count-since-2013: '24'
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volume: '40'
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web-of-science-categories: Sociology
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year: '2020'
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