Resisting or embracing institutional models of parenthood: an analytical framework

Abstract

The decision to have a child has never appeared more individualized and conscious than today, in early twenty-first century Europe. While fewer couples opt for parenthood altogether, those who do often plan the transition carefully, deliberating early-on when to start a family and how to raise their child (Balbo et al. 2013; Grunow and Evertsson 2016; Klijzing 2000). On the one hand, this trend reflects greater individual agency and gender equity among couples as pregnancy has become calculable and both sexes enter parenthood on more equal terms, usually with similar levels of educational attainment and employment experience. On the other hand, the need to carefully plan the first care-intensive years of parenthood appears more eminent today than ever before. First, the question how new mothers and fathers should adapt to their shifting obligations for childcare and work is less clear as both partners have more similar market and non-market skills than their parents’ generation. In addition, more equitable care arrangements between mothers and fathers have become feasible, even during the early stages of parenthood, as more sophisticated devices for expressing breast milk and bottle-feeding have become available (Johns et al. 2013). Second, institutional shifts in gender culture and family policies have rendered gendered work-care adaptations less clear, as European societies in general favour men’s more active engagement in infant care (Edlund and Öun 2016). This shift is most clearly evident in the family policy realm, as more countries are making care leaves available to fathers and offer incentives for dual care. Consequently, mothers’ all-encompassing role as sole primary carers has become less entrenched. Third, employment interruptions and lower work hours to enable care by either parent put a strain on the household budget during a time when families need more rather than less financial security. Most families nowadays depend on two incomes to maintain