Marriage: for love,for money…and for time?

Married couples enjoy meaningful economies in time, often choosing to specialize where one spouse focuses on market work and the other on household production and childcare. Using data from the American Time Use Survey 2003–2008, I estimate significant marriage effects upon time use. Most married women gain 33–34 min of leisure each weekday when compared to single women. While marriage does not lead to more leisure for husbands, it allows them to allocate time away from home and towards market work. Lower-income couples work more at home and for pay, and spend less time in leisure than their single counterparts. The temporal and financial gains from marriage for most people are inconsistent with its declining prevalence.     

Leading the debate for the business case for gender equality,perilous for whom?

This research examines how the framing of the business case for gender equality (BCGE) in the European Union (EU) translates in the Irish national context and how different actors have engaged with this framing exercise. A central concern is how gender knowledge is mobilized by different actors as they compete to shape discourse, policy and practice on gender equality. We draw upon theoretical work that has interrogated the relationship between neoliberalism, gender inequality and feminist mobilization before reviewing critical assessments of the BCGE. The primary focus of this paper, having mapped this theoretical debate, is to analyse the role different Irish actors and organizations play in reproducing key frames and to examine the ambiguous or ambivalent engagement of different interest groups with this agenda. In turn, we assess the degree to which the agenda enables or disables structural change in access to power. We explore three case studies through which the BCGE in the EU was reinforced, adapted, resisted and rejected in our discussions, and draw out the constraints, opportunities and outcomes in each. Our first case study, which sets the national context for the following case studies, reviews how the Irish state interacts with the EU to frame gender equality and how it partners with key actors (state feminism and femocrats, private actors and feminist actors) to advance the BCGE. The second case study examines the role of the leading Irish feminist civil society organization (CSO) in the Women on Boards campaign that reinforces the dominant instrumental discourse associated with EU and national framing of gender parity on boards, and the ambiguity of feminists about this campaign. The third case study examines how Irish financial elites symbolically engage with gender parity on boards while simultaneously seeking to veto the implementation of gender representation targets proposed in the EU Capital Directive. It is clear that a degree of instrumentality informs most actors’ framing of BCGE. We also find evidence of how power actors and financial elites, while rhetorically engaging in BCGE and employing it when relevant to develop reputational capital, will seek ultimately to protect the status quo rejecting the governance benefits implied in BCGE. Ultimately, our cases illustrate the potential of the BCGE to support the inclusion of women in governance structures yet demonstrate that engaging with BCGE is perilous for some.     

Hope for Education

UNCHICHIGE held firmly to the beam of the tractor while the machine bumped its way deep into the pastures.The local school teacher was on her way to visit Unchige, a 13-year-old girl forced out of school by poverty. Unchichige brought with her the news that the school had decided to remit the girl's schooling fee and grant her a     

Quest for Comfort

As China's economy improves, more and more people have the money and the resources to improve their living spaces, despite the inconveniences to their families, their neighbors and to the buildings themselves.     

Education for women's empowerment or schooling for women's subordination?

This article distinguishes between "schooling for subordination," the notion that promotes conventional schooling for women within existing school systems as a possible basis for them to improve their position in society and "education for empowerment," a more radical perspective that links women's advancement with the transformation of the patriarchal social order. The article opens by defining gender training as provision of skills and methods for improved gender-orientation of development programs. The conservative interpretation of gender training holds that it seeks to increase women's access to resources. The radical definition holds that inequality in access to resources is a mere symptom of a deeper problem caused by structural gender inequality and calls for conscientization of this problem. The two definitions of women's empowerment that follow this distinction are 1) a watered-down view of empowerment as self-reliance reflecting the conservative definition and 2) a more robust and pure view of empowerment as enabling women to identify and end the discriminatory practices that block their access to resources. It follows that education may be mere schooling for subordination in systems where patriarchal gatekeepers limit chances for women and where women who do succeed become "honorary males" and "queen bees" intent on repelling the advancement of other women. Education for empowerment can be found in gender training, which holds objectives that are opposite to those found in formal schooling and may be more readily adopted by women with less exposure to formal, patriarchal schools.     

Speaking for the Common People and Taking Action for Women

WU QING has become a well-known figure among an increasing number of people in recent years. Those in the literary world know her as the daughter of Bing Xin, the most celebrated contemporary writer in the country. Wu has often participated in important events in literary circles on her mother's behalf. People in academia know her as an excellent English professor at the Beijing University of Foreign Languages Studies. Her educational philosophy of teaching and cultivating morals simultaneously makes many of her     

Butterfly Longing for Flowers

"BUTTERFLY Longs for Flowers" (Die Lian Hua)was the name of a melody famous in the TangDynasty (618-907). It was later used as the nameof tunes to which poems were composed. As thename suggests, butteffies and flowers attract anddepend on each other; a natural occurrence andyet full of worldly beauty. The Yu couple havebeen researching customs and dance for a longtime, over the course of which they have collectedcountless materials that have allowed theaficionados to appreciate and conclude on theiruse. Based on their findings they create folkdances and perform them on stage. Their love,pursuit and understanding of the art displays timeand again the beauty of a butterfly longing forflowers.     

A Painter for Women

HUANG Shaohua paints traditionally. All of her subjects are females under the background of rural scenery. Her remarkable painting skills reflect an objective aesthetic stand.Her paintings combine traditional folk art with scholar-style modern Chinese painting. After graduating from the art school at Anhui Normal University in 1981, Huang Shaohua, a painter of the Anhui school, stayed there to teach. Zhou Sicong, a wellknown Chinese painter, became Huang's mentor in 1994. When Zhou died he left words evaluating Huang's work.     

Activities for Older People

Along with the improvement of the standard of living and medical care the lifespan of people in China has increased greatly in the 1990s. There are more older people living in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin than in the rest of the country. The government and     

Rich Pickings for Children

ALTHOUGH Chinese televisionworkers didn’t neglect children asan audience even in the early days oftelevision broadcasting in China,in thelate 1950’s,a lack of equipment confinedchildren’s programs to photographs andpictures.These have become part of a     

Affection for Beijing's Hutongs

I have been living in Beijing for nearly 20 years. I often ride my bike to and from the office. I love to avoid crowded roads and ride through the hutongs, or small lanes. My feelings of bustle and agitation can disappear when I ride in the lanes—so simple and unsophisticated, quiet and familiar. In my spare time, I     

Little Angels for Peace

IT was an unusual Saturday this summer.Many Chinese childrenand their parents met the 15 American and Japanese children of thedelegation of Children As The Peacemakers Foundation fromAmerica, there with their mothers,fathers,grandmothers andgrandfathers at the China National Children’s Center in Beijing.     

The Call for Peace

THE war left a deep impression on people. I was still a child then and what I remember most was fleeing from the war and the air raids. During the eight years of the war I went with my mother to Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao Guangxi, Yunnan and Guizhou. We fled to literally every part of the country in the south. Now and then I was able to go to school, but I never stayed in any one of them long before we had to flee again. By the time I was supposed to graduate from middle school I had been to five different middle schools, but because of the constant changes of schools I never obtained any graduation certificate. In my research work I see some materials on the war, and     

Racing for the Bed

No one knows when the people ofMacheng City began to employthe marriage custom of racingfor the bed, once a custom unique to theTujia ethnic minority. It is said that at the end of awedding, bride and bridegroom enter thebridal chamber together and race for thebed. The one who is the first to sit on thebed will be the master of the new familyIt sounds unreasonable, but quite anumber of people believe in it.Therefore, on the wedding night, manybrides and bridegrooms try their best to     

The Call for Civilization

The distant mountains are shrouded in grey mist The earth is filled with a dignified atmosphere     

Life for Beijing Residents

Weddings adayre ul sjuaauspicious ike.held on clober lLovers st roll on the streetFamily karaoke has become populart is now common for people to take taxisMany common PeoP沙Wn Pldn0SMCDona!d,SSaturdav.Restaurant hold‘b irthd【l任I万l(]F(jn叭dfhis fami!V enioVs boi!ed mutton,a Beiiin只favorite,esP.ia!!V durin只l[n咬Life for Beijing Residents…     

Nurse Honored for Compassion

IN September 1993, Li Guimei became the 13th winner of the Nightingale Prize of China. Throughout her 36-year nursing career, she has lived according to the same ideals since the day she first put on a nurse's cap: "A nurse must have a sympathetic heart and a pair of hard-working hands."     

Internships for women in higher education administration: springboards for success?

Administrative positions within higher education have been very homogeneous, reflecting an institutional culture in which males prevail. In an attempt to encourage women to consider alternatives in administrative positions, internship programs were developed to provide women with opportunities and a mechanism for career advancement. The purpose of this case study was to examine what women did as a result of participating in such an administrative internship program over a ten year time period at a comprehensive university. Interview data yielded consistent results that support existing literature about women in higher education. Trends were identified and recommendations suggested for encouraging more diversity within administrative positions in higher educational institutions. The findings of this study confirm the need for mentoring relationships for women in administrative positions.     

Government guidance for the Care Act: undermining ambitions for change?

The UK Government claims to be creating a historic change to social care in England through the Care Act by putting people in control of their support. However, this is fundamentally contradicted by the draft guidance published to support the Act. This amounts to a formula for maintaining the prevailing resource-limited approach to assessing and meeting needs. This reality is obscured by a welter of choice and person-centred rhetoric. However, it need not be like this. Councils with a genuine commitment to being person-centred could refer directly to the Care Act to create an alternative future, while service users and their allies could bring about systemic changes if they use the Act to establish new rights.     

Equality for all? Support for equal opportunity among professors in Europe

Equal Opportunity programs (EO) continue to be at the center of the debate about promoting equality in higher education. While support for EO has been well-studied in American higher education, this research is the first to investigate the attitudes towards and support for a range of EO policies among professors in Europe. We specifically examine faculty support for seven different EO measures used in European universities that require varying levels of involvement and commitment. From a sample of 689 professors, findings show that women professors tend to show more support for all EO programs compared to men professors. We also see differences across disciplines. Professors from the humanities and social sciences are more likely to endorse such programs than their counterparts in STEM disciplines. Moreover, the differences across disciplines and gender decrease substantially when controlling for racial and gender attitudes. Finally, soft/differential programs, which prioritize merit but take group membership into account are preferred over hard/preferential programs which prioritize achieving equality by targeting members from marginalized groups. This research is innovative for its geographical location, sample of study, and range of included measures.