The gendered journey of parenthood

Thesis

This study explores how couples in Norway and Britain adapt to parenthood in ways that establish, modify or reject a traditional gender split in family roles and responsibilities. By conducting in-depth interviews with mothers and fathers, both during the time of pregnancy as well as after the period of parental leave has come to an end, the study aims to achieve a greater understanding of how and why heterosexual couples often, but not always, develop a more pronounced gender-asymmetry in their employment and household roles and responsibilities when they become parents. The dynamics of the gendered family life will be analysed. In couples where a traditional division of labour is fully or partly rejected, the paper will explore how parents arrive at a more egalitarian distribution of unpaid and paid work and why this practice has emerged. The existing parental leave policies in Norway and Britain will be used as a framework for the study. This study, building on the voices of both men and women in two different welfare states, seeks to understand why gendered earning and caring choices are often made when heterosexual couples have a baby. While attention will be given to the transition to parenthood, and hence the use of parental leave entitlements, the study will also explore the lived realities of motherhood and fatherhood once the period of leave has come to an end and the mum and/or dad have either returned to work on a full-time basis or chosen alternative arrangements. The challenges of combining earning and caring responsibilities will be explored, comparing the choices and the experiences of parents in the two national contexts.  

Authors: Bakkeng Bergan, M

• DOI: 10.5287/ora-beavpo5g1
• Type of award: DPhil
• Awarding institution: University of Oxford
• Language: English
• Keywords: parenthood; childcare; gender; paternity leave; social policies; work; housework; maternity leave; welfare state