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This paper is on the role that the phone plays in a mixed-methods empirical research. In the current sociological literature, the phone is a methodological object associated with quantitative fieldwork, while little is said on the phone... more
This paper is on the role that the phone plays in a mixed-methods empirical research. In the current sociological literature, the phone is a methodological object associated with quantitative fieldwork, while little is said on the phone as a tool for qualitative research. We reflect here on a case study on the use of parental leaves by fathers in Spain, which included the phone as the only communication tool between researchers and subjects. We collect out own experience as interviewers in the qualitative phase of the research project, and interviewed surveyors working in the field. We analyze the discursive data following grounded theory principles and compare the use of both techniques in the data gathering process, including sampling and design. Thus, we consider interviewing and surveying as mediated communication situations. Our findings show that the value of the phone as a tool for research is a matter of adequacy to a given methodology, rather than an issue of validity, reliability, or credibility.
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Research Interests: Humanities and RES
There have been important changes in many European countries regarding parenting policy-making (OECD 2011). Paternity leave is one of this measures that have been implemented or developed in the last years. The Spanish paternity leave... more
There have been important changes in many European countries regarding parenting policy-making (OECD 2011). Paternity leave is one of this measures that have been implemented or developed in the last years. The Spanish paternity leave consists of fifteen days off-work fully paid after childbirth. Due to its recent implementation in 2007 we still do not know the percentage of paternity leave-takers and which factors foster the use of paternity leave. The aim of this paper is to evaluate which factors foster or constrain the use of paternity leave in Spain. Through a dataset of four thousand people, of which six hundred are potential paternity leave-takers, we have analysed which are the effects that working conditions, education, and gender role values have on the use of paternity leave. Our main findings are that being self-employed hampers fathers from taking paternity leave and having egalitarian roles related to childcare and family-oriented values have a positive significant relation with the use of paternity leave in Spain.
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Objective: In this first study of its kind in Spain, we analyse the scope of and reasons underlying paternal regret. Background: Research on parental regret, a subject only recently broached by analysts, tends to focus on motherhood.... more
Objective: In this first study of its kind in Spain, we analyse the scope of and reasons underlying paternal regret. Background: Research on parental regret, a subject only recently broached by analysts, tends to focus on motherhood. Regretting fatherhood has been only scantly researched. In this study we test the effects of intensive fathering, the use of different care resources, economic and employment conditions, and satisfaction with respondents’ partnership on their regret for having children. Method: The analysis is based on an online survey of parents of children under 7 years old (QUIDAN Survey) A total of 3100 parents were interviewed, with the sample evenly distributed by sex and youngest child’s age, and proportional by parents’ highest level of schooling and place of residence. The weighted subsample used in this article included 1374 fathers. The hypotheses are tested with logistic regression. Results: The social factors associated with a greater likelihood of regret i...
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Las paternidades van cambiando a lo largo del tiempo junto con, entre otros factores, innovaciones en políticas familiares. Este artículo testa la influencia en la implicación paterna en el cuidado de niños a través del incremento de la... more
Las paternidades van cambiando a lo largo del tiempo junto con, entre otros factores, innovaciones en políticas familiares. Este artículo testa la influencia en la implicación paterna en el cuidado de niños a través del incremento de la duración del permiso de paternidad de dos a cinco semanas llevado a cabo desde 2007 a 2018. Se utilizan los datos de la encuesta de fecundidad de 2018. El tamaño muestral es de 3.388 entrevistas. Se realizan modelos de regresión logística para diez tareas de cuidado de niños. Los resultados apuntan a que el permiso de paternidad de dos semanas conlleva una mayor implicación paterna en actividades de cuidado que incluyen la interacción y juego. Mientras que la utilización del permiso de paternidad de cuatro y cinco semanas favorece la implicación en tareas de cuidado físico. No obstante, no se observan cambios en las tareas de cuidado más feminizadas.
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Objective: The question addressed in this study is the possible effect of mothers' use of parental leave on the share of childcare and housework assumed by each parent. Background: Whilst the length of parental leave is greater in... more
Objective: The question addressed in this study is the possible effect of mothers' use of parental leave on the share of childcare and housework assumed by each parent. Background: Whilst the length of parental leave is greater in Spain than in other European countries, as it is unpaid, take-up rates are low. Such leaves are taken more frequently and for longer periods by women than men. Method: To determine the answer, two multivariate regression models were applied to National Statistics Institute 2018 Fertility Survey data. The main independent variables were fathers' and mothers' use of parental leave. The models also controlled for the effects of family and socio-economic variables on the share of childcare and housework assumed by each parent. Results: The findings showed that mothers' use of unpaid full-time parental leave traditionalises the distribution of domestic chores only when the leave extends beyond one year, whereas part-time leave-taking has no effe...
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Paternity leave has been introduced in many countries as a way to foster father´s co-responsibility in family obligations. This study aims \to analyse, for the Spanish case, if (1) the positive effects of the paternity leave are not only... more
Paternity leave has been introduced in many countries as a way to foster father´s co-responsibility in family obligations. This study aims \to analyse, for the Spanish case, if (1) the positive effects of the paternity leave are not only limited to the short term, but are maintained at medium and long term; (2) if a similar effect applies in the case of unemployment periods. Based on a subsample of 3388 cases derived from the Spanish Fertility Survey 2018, we perform OLS regression analysis of father´s involvement in childcare and housework. Our analysis shows that longer leaves are related to a greater involvement in care and housework activities, although only in the former, the effect is maintained in the long term. Regarding unemployed fathers, these individuals show more involvement in childcare during the first year, but the effect vanishes later and there is no significant relationship with housework.
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Las escuelas infantiles, las excedencias y las reducciones de jornada para el cuidado de niños son recursos fundamentales para la conciliación de las familias españolas. Este trabajo persigue conocer cómo condiciona el uso de los permisos... more
Las escuelas infantiles, las excedencias y las reducciones de jornada para el cuidado de niños son recursos fundamentales para la conciliación de las familias españolas. Este trabajo persigue conocer cómo condiciona el uso de los permisos parentales no remunerados la utilización de las escuelas infantiles durante los primeros tres años de vida de los hijos/as. Para ello, se utiliza la Encuesta sobre el uso de permisos parentales en España, 2012 y, a través de tres modelos de regresión logística multivariante, se analizan los factores que se relacionan con la asistencia a la escuela infantil. De acuerdo con los resultados, las reducciones de jornada mantienen una relación positiva con la asistencia a la escuela infantil, lo que refleja que la utilización de ambos recursos se complementa; por el contrario, el uso de excedencias tiende a sustituir a la escuela infantil.
There have been important changes in many European countries regarding parenting policy-making (OECD 2011). Paternity leave is one of this measures that have been implemented or developed in the last years. The Spanish paternity leave... more
There have been important changes in many European countries regarding parenting policy-making (OECD 2011). Paternity leave is one of this measures that have been implemented or developed in the last years. The Spanish paternity leave consists of fifteen days off-work fully paid after childbirth. Due to its recent implementation in 2007 we still do not know the percentage of paternity leave-takers and which factors foster the use of paternity leave. The aim of this paper is to evaluate which factors foster or constrain the use of paternity leave in Spain. Through a dataset of four thousand people, of which six hundred are potential paternity leave-takers, we have analysed which are the effects that working conditions, education, and gender role values have on the use of paternity leave. Our main findings are that being self-employed hampers fathers from taking paternity leave and having egalitarian roles related to childcare and family-oriented values have a positive significant rel...
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ABSTRACT This article aims to understand how Spanish fathers construct and justify their decisions to use both paternity and parental leaves. Specifically, we analyse the fathers' discourse about paid work conditions, the... more
ABSTRACT This article aims to understand how Spanish fathers construct and justify their decisions to use both paternity and parental leaves. Specifically, we analyse the fathers' discourse about paid work conditions, the couple's decision-making process, formal and informal care resources, and care and gender equality. We divided responders according to the type of leave that they took and the length of time away from work; as a result, participants in this study were placed into three groups: (1) fathers who take 15 days off from work after childbirth, which are usually those who took only paternity leaves; (2) fathers who take off more than 1 month, which are usually fathers who also took parental leave; and (3) fathers who take off less than 5 days from work, which are fathers who do not take any official leave. We analyse 30 in-depth interviews with Spanish fathers by applying a critical discourse methodology. The findings indicate that paternity leave is mostly considered a right, but not a duty, and the decision whether or not to use it is viewed as an individual choice. Fathers who take longer leaves judge time off from work not only as an individual right, but also as a duty to their families. These fathers show a low work-connection discourse, an explicit rejection of other care resources, and a care-sensitive attitude.
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espanolComo en otros paises, en Espana se ha promocionado el uso de permisos para el cuidado de ninos y ninas por ambos padres. A partir de la encuesta El uso social de los permisos parentales 2012, este trabajo analiza las... more
espanolComo en otros paises, en Espana se ha promocionado el uso de permisos para el cuidado de ninos y ninas por ambos padres. A partir de la encuesta El uso social de los permisos parentales 2012, este trabajo analiza las caracteristicas del uso, las motivaciones y las consecuencias para la carrera profesional, prestando especial atencion a las diferencias de genero. El analisis evidencia que, mientras la utilizacion de los permisos remunerados no presenta diferencias de genero muy marcadas, los no remunerados son utilizados principalmente por mujeres y por quienes tienen mejores condiciones laborales. Las motivaciones para utilizar los permisos no remunerados estan relacionadas con la crianza (pasar mas tiempo con el bebe, prolongar la lactancia, etc.), pero tambien para preservar el empleo de la pareja. El uso de estos permisos no solo tiene costes economicos, tambien supone perjuicios para la carrera profesional de una parte significativa de quienes los han utilizado EnglishIn ...
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espanolEste trabajo tiene como objetivo comparar la brecha entre los valores de genero y la practica domestica en el Reino Unido y Espana. Los datos se obtuvieron de una muestra de encuestados britanicos y espanoles, hombres y mujeres,... more
espanolEste trabajo tiene como objetivo comparar la brecha entre los valores de genero y la practica domestica en el Reino Unido y Espana. Los datos se obtuvieron de una muestra de encuestados britanicos y espanoles, hombres y mujeres, en el modulo “Familia y cambio de roles de genero” del Programa Internacional de Encuestas Sociales (ISSP 2002; 2012) y se utilizaron para crear modelos multivariantes utilizando tecnicas de regresion de minimos cuadrados ordinarios. Los hallazgos sugieren que los valores de genero afectan a las practicas domesticas. Sin embargo, este efecto no se observo para el cuidado. Se encontro que el impacto de los valores de genero en la division por sexo de las tareas domesticas era similar en el Reino Unido y Espana. Tambien se observo un movimiento gradual hacia ideales mas igualitarios en ambos paises durante el periodo de 10 anos estudiado. EnglishThis study aimed to compare the gap between gender role values and domestic practice in the UK and Spain....
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One of the main objectives of parental leave policies aimed exclusively at fathers is to promote gender equality in the productive and reproductive spheres. The aim of this study is to examine whether the use of paternity leave fosters... more
One of the main objectives of parental leave policies aimed exclusively at fathers is to promote gender equality in the productive and reproductive spheres. The aim of this study is to examine whether the use of paternity leave fosters greater involvement of fathers in the division of tasks within the reproductive sphere, specifi cally child care and housework. Based on data from the survey, “Social use of parental leave in Spain, 2012”, we have created multivariate models using ordinary least squares regression. The sample used in the analysis consists of 600 fathers who have had at least one child since 2007. The results suggest that paternity leave does encourage greater involvement by fathers in childcare, but the effect is limited, as it is only found for fathers after the birth of their fi rst child. Como citar
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Esta tesis doctoral esta configurada como un compendio de articulos de investigacion empirica. El desarrollo de esta tesis esta enmarcado en mi participacion en el proyecto de investigacion "El uso social de los permisos... more
Esta tesis doctoral esta configurada como un compendio de articulos de investigacion empirica. El desarrollo de esta tesis esta enmarcado en mi participacion en el proyecto de investigacion "El uso social de los permisos parentales" (CSO2009-11328) dirigido por Gerardo Meil Landwerlin y financiado por el Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion. A traves de la participacion en este proyecto, y con la colaboracion de los miembros del grupo de investigacion "Analisis del cambio familiar", se han ido desarrollando los articulos que componen esta tesis doctoral. La piedra angular de esta tesis es el estudio de diversas dimensiones del permiso de paternidad en Espana.
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The present article discusses the analysis of the impact on four indicators of Subjective Well-Being (SWB) of the transitions in geographical mobility patterns in four European countries. Based on both waves of the survey job Mobilities... more
The present article discusses the analysis of the impact on four indicators of Subjective Well-Being (SWB) of the transitions in geographical mobility patterns in four European countries. Based on both waves of the survey job Mobilities and family Life (2007 and 2011), we will discuss the impact of entering, leaving and staying in mobility compared to not being mobile in both waves on subjective wellbeing. The indicators to be analyzed are satisfaction with work, satisfaction with life, stress because of work and overall stress. As control variables we will use other relevant transitions in life as are transitions into and out of partnership, transition into parenthood, changes in health, changes in satisfaction with the financial situation and gender. As analytic strategy we will use OLS regression models of the changes between both waves of the SWB indicators. Results show that SWB indicators have changed for most of the interviewed persons during the period under observation: onl...
This chapter examines how the economic crisis, and the political crisis it spawned, conditioned the evolution of leave policy in Spain during the period 2007-2017. At the outset of the period, a socialist government adopted gender... more
This chapter examines how the economic crisis, and the political crisis it spawned, conditioned the evolution of leave policy in Spain during the period 2007-2017. At the outset of the period, a socialist government adopted gender equality legislation, which introduced a two week fully paid Paternity Leave, as a means to foster co-responsibility, as well as improving the terms of other leave. Whilst cuts in public spending in the wake of the economic crisis and the switch from a socialist to a conservative government neither shortened the duration of nor lowered payments for existing types of leave, they did retard further improvements. Throughout the period, developments in leave policy have been justified essentially on the grounds of protecting women's employment and furthering gender equality, with conservative parties placing more discursive emphasis on the former, with a rhetoric of freedom, choice and flexibility; and leftist parties on the latter, supported by a growing ...
Tesis doctoral inedita, leida en Universidad Autonoma de Madrid, Facultad de Ciencias Economicas y Empresariales, Departamento de Sociologia. Fecha de lectura: 28-01-2014
One of the consequences of globalisation is an increase in the working population’s geographical mobility. This mobility can have important effects for individuals, both positively and negatively, on well-being. Based on both waves of the... more
One of the consequences of globalisation is an increase in the working population’s geographical mobility. This mobility can have important effects for individuals, both positively and negatively, on well-being. Based on both waves of the survey Job Mobilities and Family Life (2007 and 2011), we will discuss the impact of entering, leaving and staying in mobility compared to not being mobile on subjective well-being, controlling for other relevant transitions in life (partnership, parenthood, health and financial situation), as well as gender. As analytic strategy we will use OLS regression models of the changes between both waves of four SWB indicators. Results show that SWB indicators have changed for most of the interviewed persons during the period under observation. These changes are not all random, but are related in different degree with the variables under analysis. Whilst satisfaction with work is related with mobility transitions in the expected direction, in the case of l...
Families rely on both parental and non-parental involvement when confronting the challenge of caring for children till the age of three. Drawing from the 2016 edition of the EU’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions, this study analyses... more
Families rely on both parental and non-parental involvement when confronting the challenge of caring for children till the age of three. Drawing from the 2016 edition of the EU’s Survey on Income and Living Conditions, this study analyses non-parental childcare options in France, Norway, and Spain, taken as examples of different welfare state models. It addresses the degree to which parents of children under 3 years old in each country resort to non-parental agents (grandparents and other relatives, professional care providers, and pre-school services). The results reveal the existence of significant differences in non-parental care strategies in the three countries analysed, though some convergence towards defamilialisation and the important impact of household income on the types of non-parental care prevalent in France and Spain.
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In recent years, grandparental childcare has been instrumental to Spanish parents’ ability to engage in paid work. At the same time, the use of formal childcare services, paid domestic assistance and parental leave-taking have also... more
In recent years, grandparental childcare has been instrumental to Spanish parents’ ability to engage in paid work. At the same time, the use of formal childcare services, paid domestic assistance and parental leave-taking have also intensified. The objectives of this study are: (1) to estimate the scope of the support received from grandparents in caring for children; and (2) to assess the impact of the diversification of childcare resources on highly frequent grandparental childcare in two-parent families. The sample covered the 2304 parents with at least one child under 13 interviewed on the occasion of the Survey on the Use of Parental Leave in Spain, 2012. Three types of factors were analysed: (1) use of external childcare resources; (2) time devoted by parents to childcare and paid work; and (3) control factors measuring grandparents’ availability, childcare needs and income. The findings suggested that international comparative studies based on the Survey of Health, Ageing and...
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Este trabajo tiene como objetivo comparar la brecha entre los valores de género y la práctica doméstica en el Reino Unido y España. Los datos se obtuvieron de una muestra de encuestados británicos y españoles, hombres y mujeres, en el... more
Este trabajo tiene como objetivo comparar la brecha entre los valores de género y la práctica doméstica en el Reino Unido y España. Los datos se obtuvieron de una muestra de encuestados británicos y españoles, hombres y mujeres, en el módulo “Familia y cambio de roles de género” del Programa Internacional de Encuestas Sociales (ISSP 2002; 2012) y se utilizaron para crear modelos multivariantes utilizando técnicas de regresión de mínimos cuadrados ordinarios. Los hallazgos sugieren que los valores de género afectan a las prácticas domésticas. Sin embargo, este efecto no se observó para el cuidado. Se encontró que el impacto de los valores de género en la división por sexo de las tareas domésticas era similar en el Reino Unido y España. También se observó un movimiento gradual hacia ideales más igualitarios en ambos países durante el período de 10 años estudiado.
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This article analyses how unemployed fathers with employed partners broach childcare and how they conceive of their own identities. It aims primarily to determine whether these fathers actually play the part of primary caregivers. The... more
This article analyses how unemployed fathers with employed partners broach childcare and how they conceive of their own identities. It aims primarily to determine whether these fathers actually play the part of primary caregivers. The analysis is based on in-depth interviews with 26 unemployed fathers who spent at least three months caring for their children. The findings show that these fathers engaged intensively in a wide variety of caring tasks. Nonetheless, their role as primary caregivers is called into question on the grounds of attitude. They tended to take for granted that they should set aside time and space for themselves, adding to their partners’ dual workload. Moreover, the overall responsibility for care fell largely on mothers. Subjectively speaking, while one group of fathers resorted to egalitarian precepts to normalise their situation, for many others, the inability to meet the standard expectations of traditional masculinity prompted an identity conflict.
Caring fatherhood in very traditional and masculinized environments has been under-researched. This study analyzed the experience of Spanish policemen who used parental leave to care for their babies alone while their partners returned to... more
Caring fatherhood in very traditional and masculinized environments has been under-researched. This study analyzed the experience of Spanish policemen who used parental leave to care for their babies alone while their partners returned to paid work. The aim was to ascertain whether use of parental leaves under those circumstances favors the development of caring masculinity. The qualitative methodology deployed consisted in semi-structured interviews conducted in 2014 with a sample of 15 policemen who took parental leave alone for at least 4 weeks while their partners returned to paid work. More specifically, the analysis addressed the respondents’ discourse on the justification of their decision to engage in this type of childcare, the workplace reaction to the decision, and their experience when fathering alone. The findings suggest that, even though hegemonic masculinity persisted in part of these fathers’ discourse and experience, engagement in such innovative practice tended to...
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ABSTRACT Official Spanish policy seeks greater gender equality by, among other things, encouraging men’s use of their legal rights to parental leave and requiring employers to implement equality plans. This article contains a first-ever... more
ABSTRACT Official Spanish policy seeks greater gender equality by, among other things, encouraging men’s use of their legal rights to parental leave and requiring employers to implement equality plans. This article contains a first-ever analysis of the extent to which company equality plans are used to improve upon the legal provisions governing parental leave and whether those improvements actually encourage greater leave use by men, help to degender leave use and promote fathers’ co-responsibility for childcare. The improvements implemented by companies are analysed against a backdrop of economic crisis (2007-2016), during which public policy underwent no substantial change. An analysis of the gender equality plans in place among 107 ‘gender equality employers’ (GEEs) revealed that most included no enhancement of the existing legislation and only a few work organizations provided incentives for men to use leaves as part of their work-life balance strategies. Substantial progress in this regard can only be expected through increasing government provision of parental leave aimed at men and/or increasing government pressure on companies to encourage leave taking by men.
With women’s rising participation in the labour market and the concomitant growth in the proportion of dual-earner families, the harmonization of work and family life has acquired increasing social significance in developed countries.... more
With women’s rising participation in the labour market and the concomitant growth in the proportion of dual-earner families, the harmonization of work and family life has acquired increasing social significance in developed countries. Demands for public authorities to implement policies that would further such harmonization therefore have intensified. One of the responses has been to broaden the scope of traditional maternity leaves with policies that would enable fathers to take time off work to care for their children and facilitate their return to work on termination of their leave (Kamerman and Moss 2009). Although national governments have reacted in very diverse ways to such demands (Moss 2014), the initiatives observed in the European Union (EU) over the last 25 years define a common trend (Gauthier 2002) characterized by longer leaves (although this parameter is very variable), by a higher percentage of the salary paid during leaves, and by greater flexibility in leaves’ use (OECD 2011). Moreover, fathers’ usage of such leaves has been fostered by mainstreaming parental leave policies in overall equality policy (Meilland and Math 2004; Bruning and Platenga 1999; Haas and Hwang 2008). Despite this convergence in trends in parental leave policies across Europe, major inter-country differences persist in duration, pay, and flexibility.
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Power point presentation: The contribution discusses the analysis of the impact on four indicators of Subjective Well-Being of the transitions in geographical mobility patterns in four European countries. Based on both waves of the survey... more
Power point presentation: The contribution discusses the analysis of the impact on four indicators of Subjective Well-Being of the transitions in geographical mobility patterns in four European countries. Based on both waves of the survey Job Mobilities and Family Life, we will discuss the impact of entering, leaving and staying in mobility compared to not being mobile in both waves on SWB. The indicators of SWB to be analyzed are satisfaction with work, satisfaction with life, stress because of work and overall stress. As control variables we will use other relevant transitions in life as are transition in partnership and parenthood status as well as changes in health, satisfaction with the financial situation and gender. As analytic strategy we will use OLS regression models of the changes between both waves of the SWB indicators. Results show that SWB indicators have changed for most of the interviewed persons during the period under observation: only one third of the interviewed...