This is the first systematic international comparative study of the transformation of couples' careers in modern societies. The countries included are Germany, the Netherlands, the Flemish part of Belgium, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, and China. Using longitudinal data, this book explores what has and what has not changed for couples in various countries due to women's greater involvement in paid employment. It provides evidence that despite substantial improvement in women's educational attainment and career opportunities in all the countries studied, dimensions of role specialization in dual-earner couples have not undergone transformation to the same extent. Gender role change within the family has generally been asymmetric, so that housework and childcare primarily remain 'women's work'. There are, however, also significant institutional differences among modern societies which determine a country's timing, speed, and pattern of change from the traditional male breadwinner to the dual-earner family model. In particular, the impact of males' resources on their female partners' employment careers is dependent on the welfare state regime. In conservative and Mediterranean welfare state regimes, women's paid employment is negatively correlated with the occupational position of their husbands. In liberal welfare state regimes, no impact of husbands' resources on their wives' labour force participation could be detected. In the social democratic welfare state regime and generally in (former) socialist countries, husbands' resources have a positive effect on their wives' employment so that occupational resources cumulate in dual-earner families.

This is the first systematic international comparative study of the transformation of couples' careers in modern societies. The countries included are Germany, the Netherlands, the Flemish part of Belgium, Italy, Spain, Great Britain, the United States, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Hungary, and China. Using longitudinal data, this book explores what has and what has not changed for couples in various countries due to women's greater involvement in paid employment. It provides evidence that despite substantial improvement in women's educational attainment and career opportunities in all the countries studied, dimensions of role specialization in dual-earner couples have not undergone transformation to the same extent. Gender role change within the family has generally been asymmetric, so that housework and childcare primarily remain 'women's work'. There are, however, also significant institutional differences among modern societies which determine a country's timing, speed, and pattern of change from the traditional male breadwinner to the dual-earner family model.; In particular, the impact of males' resources on their female partners' employment careers is dependent on the welfare state regime. In conservative and Mediterranean welfare state regimes, women's paid employment is negatively correlated with the occupational position of their husbands. In liberal welfare state regimes, no impact of husbands' resources on their wives' labour force participation could be detected. In the social democratic welfare state regime and generally in (former) socialist countries, husbands' resources have a positive effect on their wives' employment so that occupational resources cumulate in dual-earner families.

European integration is one of the most ambitious and socially far-reaching developments in world politics and in world economics. Against growing opposition and despite increasing social heterogeneity, the European Union continues to expand and to acquire new competences. But to what extent is the self-proclaimed "ever closer union among the peoples of Europe" a social reality? In which ways is the political European project anchored in social developments? How does social change impinge upon political integration? Societal trends in multi-cultural, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual and socially diverse Europe have never been studied systematically. Handbook of European Societies: Social Transformations in the 21st Century sets to rectify this neglect of societal developments in Europe, providing a groundwork for the sociology of European integration. The book portrays social life and social relations in the enlarged Europe, and gives a perspective on the European Union as an evolving social entity. Handbook of European Societies is a pioneering source book analyzing the current social patterns on the continent. It covers a representative selection of major topics of social concern and sociological relevance, such as Collective Action, Consumption, Identity, Power Structure, Sexuality, Stratification and Well-being. Each contribution probes key developments in a strictly comparative manner. The Handbook thus offers a detailed look into the intricacies of the national societies of Europe and into the prospect of an emerging European society. The Editors have enlisted leading researchers to synthesize existing knowledge and to make use of many different data sources in a straight-forward style. The contributions stay away from jargon, simple labeling and sweeping assertions. Instead, they provide solid and accessible information on a wide variety of social trends and processes within and across European societies

Changing Life Patterns in Western Industrial Societies

This refreshing volume introduces a theory for explaining cross-national differences in the social practice of women (and men) in the areas of family and employment. This provides a theoretical framework for the ensuing comprehensive cross-national analysis of the degree and forms of labour market integration of women in three European countries - Finland, West Germany and the Netherlands - from the 1950s until 2000. Cross-national differences are explained with a focus on cultural change and the development of welfare state, labour markets, the family and social movements. It is evident that change took place along different development paths that were based on deep-rooted historical differences in the cultural ideals of the family. Such historical differences and their explanations also form part of the analysis. The results of this survey contribute to the further development of cross-national sociology on social change, social and gender inequality, welfare state, labour markets and family structures.

Globalization, argue the contributors to this book, has remarkably accelerated social and economic change in modern societies. One such change is manifested in the world of work and careers. This book explores whether the forces of globalization affect the erosion of standard career patterns of mid-career men in twelve OECD countries. Overwhelming evidence against the 'individualization of inequality' thesis is provided - it is argued that equality remains largely stratified by factors such as occupational class and educational level, and in some countries has even grown over time.

. . . the book can be recommended to all with an interest in the issue of older workers in a globalised world. Ageing and Society Early retirement has been a policy to cope with the problems of massive unemployment in many Western welfare states. However, it has become apparent that this strategy is costly and destroys human capital urgently needed in ageing societies. This book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date study of late-career patterns and processes of early retirement in fourteen OECD countries, using both cross-sectional and longitudinal data. It is an important contribution to life-course research and will provide the foundation for any serious discussion on pension reforms and increasing the employability of older workers. Hans-Jürgen Andreß, University of Cologne, Germany This timely book investigates the growth of the early retirement trend and its varying spread among different groups of older workers in fourteen modern societies. It argues for a differentiated political approach to reverse early retirement, which relies on both pension and employability policies for older workers. Examining the early retirement trend virtually all modern societies have been faced with since the onset of the globalization process in the 1970s and 1980s, this book provides a thorough analysis of older workers late careers and their retirement transitions, as well as explaining why this trend has developed differently between nations. To promote an effective reversal of the early retirement trend, national policymakers are advised not to concentrate their efforts exclusively on reducing the financial incentives for an early exit still present in most national pension systems. In addition, it is also recommended that they invest in the employability of older workers, implying a thorough reconsideration of the design of education and labor market policies. Dirk Hofäcker presents a unique and comprehensive synthesis of theories describing and explaining the trend towards early retirement, and critically discusses their comparative advantages and shortcomings. Researchers and students of sociology, economics, gerontology, demography and comparative welfare states should not be without this book and policymakers and practitioners dealing with labor market policies will find it invaluable.

This book is a comparative study of family change, parental employment and social policy in the five Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom. In all these countries family forms have been profoundly affected by lower fertility rates, lower marriage rates, increased cohabitation, higher risks of relationship breakdown and episodes of lone parenthood. These changes have also been linked to an increase in the proportion of mothers participating in the labour market.

Marriage and social inequality are closely interrelated. Marriage is dependent on the structure of marriage markets, and marriage patterns have consequences for social inequality. This book demonstrates that in most modern societies the educa tional system has become an increasingly important marriage market, particularly for those who are highly qualified. Educational expansion in general and the rising educational participation of women in particular unintentionally have increased the rate of "assortative meeting" and assortative mating across birth cohorts. Rising educational homogamy means that social inequality is further enhanced through marriage because better (and worse) educated single men and women pool their economic and sociocultural advantages (and disadvantages) within couples. In this book we study the changing role of the educational system as a marriage market in modern societies from a cross-national comparative perspective. Using life-history data from a broad range of industrialized countries and longitudinal statistical models, we analyze the process of spouse selection in the life courses of single men and women, step by step. The countries included in this book vary widely in important characteristics such as demographic behavior and institutional characteristics. The life course approach explicitly recognizes the dynamic nature of partner decisions, the importance of educational roles and institutional circum stances as young men and women move through their life paths, and the cumulation of advantages and disadvantages experienced by individuals.

Event History Analysis With Stata provides an introduction to event history modeling techniques using Stata (version 9), a widely used statistical program that provides tools for data analysis. The book emphasizes the usefulness of event history models for causal analysis in the social sciences and the application of continuous-time models. T