Existing research shows that women's employment patterns are not so much driven by gender, as by gendered parenthood, with childless women and men (including fathers) employed at substantially higher levels than mothers in most countries. We focus on the cross-national variation in the gap in...

Welfare state generosity around work-family policies appears to have somewhat contradictory effects, at least for some measures of gender equality. In particular, it appears that as work-family policies, in encouraging higher levels of women's labor market participation, have also contributed to...

Mothers' employment and earnings partly depend on social policies and cultural norms supporting work-family balance. While policies regarding parental leave and childcare may assist families in combining work and care, are these policies related to the economic penalties for motherhood? Using...

While comparative case studies have examined the importance of women as agents in creating and transforming the welfare state, and cross-national research has confirmed that women's labour force participation appears to both shape and be shaped by welfare policies and spending, little...