Combining work and family in two occupational contexts and cultures : Nurses versus police officers
(2012) ISA Forum of Sociology RC30 Sociology of Work — Location: Buenos Aires (Argentina) (1.August.2012)
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- Abstract
- Today, combining working life and family life is a real challenge for millions of Europeans ‘juggling’ with competing work and family responsibilities (and in particular care responsibilities) a relentless and often stressful part of everyday life. This challenge has become a prominent issue in Europe, at EU, national and workplace levels. The combination of work and family affects many aspects of society: national economic performance, job quality, gender equality, the welfare of children and others needing care as well as well-being and the quality of life. At the national level several factors fundamentally determine the opportunity an individual has to achieve work/life balance “capability”. These include: the quality of legal entitlements and service infrastructure, economic conditions and the level of unemployment, societal attitudes towards women and men taking up family-supportive initiatives, gendered expectations and egalitarian ideology. There is also a key role played by the specific policies and culture of workplaces and occupations/professions in the implementation of work-family balance policies. Drawing on a survey and interviews conducted in Belgium in two important occupational groups (nurses and police officers), author will address two questions: How do occupational attitudes influence the take-up of statutory family-related leave measures? How do working families combine work and family in different occupational contexts and cultures? He will show the influence of occupational belonging on the work/family experience -conflict or conciliation- and the difference of work/family regulations in the two occupational groups studied: one more sequential, the other more integrative.
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Fusulier, B. (2012). Combining work and family in two occupational contexts and cultures : Nurses versus police officers. ISA Forum of Sociology RC30 Sociology of Work, Buenos Aires (Argentina). https://hdl.handle.net/2078.5/194068