Towards intensive parenting? Changes in the composition and determinants of mothers' and fathers' time with children 1992–2006

Contemporary expectations of good parenting hold that focused, intensive parental attention is essential to children's development. Parental input is viewed as a key determinant in children's social, psychological and educational outcomes, with the early years particularly crucial. However, increased rates of maternal employment mean that more parents are juggling work and family commitments and have less non‐work time available to devote to children. Yet studies find that parental childcare time has increased over recent decades. In this paper, we explore the detail of this trend using data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Time Use Survey (TUS), 1992 and 2006. To investigate whether discourses on intensive parenting are reflected in behaviour, we examine a greater range of parent–child activities than has been undertaken to date, looking at trends in active childcare time (disaggregated into talk‐based, physical and accompanying care activities); time in childcare as a secondary activity; time spent in the company of children in leisure activities; and time spent in the company of children in total. We also investigate whether the influence of factors known to predict parental time with children (gender, education, employment status and the age of children) have changed over time. We contextualize our analyses within social and economic trends in Australia and find a compositional change in parental time, with more active childcare occurring within less overall time, which suggests more intensive, child‐centred parenting. Fathers' parent–child time, particularly in physical care, increased more than mothers' (from a much lower base), and tertiary education no longer predicts significantly higher childcare time.     

包容性增长下的公共经济与民间经济关系优化

包容性增长与优化公共经济与民间经济关系具有内在统一性。我国公共经济存在缺位、越位现象,民间经济遭受发展环境与自身竞争能力双重约束,二者之间互动和支持力度不够。产生这些问题的原因主要是中国现阶段生产力水平整体不高且不平衡、公共经济体制不健全、转型期政府职能伸缩、传统产权制度弊端等,而解决这些问题的现实路径就是要定位公共经济与民间经济的发展空间、完善经济调整机制、规范产权关系、营造和谐的发展环境。     

Understanding the High Rates of Employment among Low‐educated Women in Portugal: A Comparatively Oriented Case Study

This article addresses the question of why Portugal is an exception among southern European countries in having a high rate of female employment. Cross‐national data show an even greater gap between Portugal and its southern European neighbours in the employment rates for low‐educated women. This article presents case‐based evidence on the work orientations, gender relations and reconciliation strategies of low‐educated women working in the clothing industry in Portugal. The analysis reveals that while economic need plays an important role in their attachment to employment, their work decisions are forged by a complex set of attitudes regarding employment and the family. Traditional values regarding the role of women in the family co‐exist with more modern values regarding their employment participation. Moreover, the institutional arrangements of childcare and reconciliation also appear to be more supportive than might be expected in a southern Europe welfare state. By focusing on a particular group of low‐educated women, the findings suggest that the same welfare policies may have different impacts on the reconciliation strategies of women of different socioeconomic groups.     

Child poverty and family policies across eighteen wealthy Western democracies

While a good deal has been written about the potential value of family policies in reducing child poverty in Western countries, few cross-national quantitative studies have been carried out on this topic. This article uses ordinary least squares regression analysis on panel data from 18 Western democracies from 1987 to 2007 to test the significance of family policies and other welfare policies on child poverty rates. It extends existing research on the relationship between family policies and child poverty by utilizing a broader data-set in terms of time, countries, and child poverty measures. The main finding is that all three of the main family policies studied – child cash and tax benefits, paid parenting leaves, and public support for childcare – correlate significantly with lower child poverty rates. Somewhat surprisingly, disability and sickness insurance also correlates significantly with lower child poverty in nearly every model and test. These findings provide valuable insight for future research and policy-making in the area of child poverty.     

Inclusive schooling: fostering citizenship among immigrant students in Europe

Growing ethnic and cultural diversity within Europe has brought increased attention to the impact and inclusion of immigrant populations and has also presented societies with valuable opportunities for intercultural learning between diverse groups. Using the International Civic and Citizenship Study data from 24 European education systems, in this paper we explore whether fostering an atmosphere of inclusion in schools relates to select attitudes and behaviours typically associated with an inclusive society, particularly among immigrant students. Our study is able to tease out some of the differences related to social class among immigrant students, opening up important avenues for discussion and future research. According to our findings, first generation immigrant students from higher socio-economic status backgrounds tended to have significantly more negative attitudes toward their resident country. Findings also collectively suggest that local-level practices, such as improving immigrant student participation in schools and positive relations between immigrant students and teachers, could be significant factors in fostering an inclusive society. Based on these results, we describe several education policies and practices that can promote greater inclusion, such as encouraging increased civic participation within the school and community, and providing a forum where students can contribute to school governance.     

中西部地区县域经济的包容性增长——以云南昆明寻甸县为例

县是国家政权结构的基本单元,国家政权行使和行政管理的基础,县对上是宏观经济政策的贯彻者和执行者,对下是县域经济和社会发展的组织者和操作者。县域经济是以县级政权为调控主体,以发展本地经济为宗旨的区域性经济,实施县域经济包容性增长"双向三化一体"发展路径,必将历史性地一揽子解决集多民族、山区、贫困为一体的广大中西部扶贫开发地区的社会经济发展问题。     

Teachers’ Perceptions of Childcare and Preschool Expulsion

Previous research outlines the correlates of childcare expulsion in the USA, yet researchers know little about how these correlates produce expulsion. This in‐depth qualitative analysis of 30 childcare providers’ accounts of expulsion finds a patterned process to expulsion: Teachers search for causes and solutions to challenging behaviours. When interventions fail, overwhelmed teachers shift their focus from ‘struggling’ children to ‘bad families’. Once the explanation of behaviour changes from within to outside of the child, expulsion is imminent. Interventions in teachers’ understandings, not only in children's behaviours, are discussed as a possible way to reduce expulsion.     

普惠性民办幼儿园的制度意蕴及实现路径思考

普惠性民办幼儿园作为实现学前教育普惠性改革发展目标的制度构建,所蕴含的意蕴在于扩展国家提供普惠性学前教育(园位)资源的渠道,让普通人能够获得最基本的学前教育服务需求。民办幼儿园满足一定条件经法定程序认定为普惠性幼儿园,可以享受国家相关政策优惠。国家对普惠性民办幼儿园的政策优惠区分为社会力量举办普惠性民办幼儿园扶持、引导政策,普惠性民办幼儿园面向社会提供普惠性学前教育(园位)资源的补助政策,以及普惠性民办幼儿园发展支持政策三个方面。     

Making use of work–family balance entitlements: how to support fathers with combining employment and caregiving

ABSTRACT

Much workplace support to parents offered by employers is gender neutral in design, but fathers’ usage rates are generally very low and far below that of mothers. This paper reflects on men’s dual roles as fathers and employees in relation to formal and informal work policies and practices, with the aim of answering the question: How could fathers feel supported by their work environment to take a more active caregiving role in the lives of their children? We take a capabilities approach to explore models of change, which supports the assumption that many fathers are somehow not fully enabled by their organisations to use policies. Focus groups were conducted within a large public sector organisation in the UK to capture the individual and interactional experiences of fathers. Findings suggest that workplace culture, line manager relationships, the ‘modelling’ behaviour of peers and gendered leave practices all impact on how fathers feel about using work-family balance policies, and whether they are likely to use them. The limits of workplace support for fathers can be challenged via the consideration of some key institutional conversion factors which if addressed may better enable fathers to exercise greater agency with regard to work-family balance entitlements.