Families, Care-Giving And Paid Work

‘Balancing paid work and family life remains a significant challenge; indeed, the challenges are intensifying as economic austerity threatens the pursuit of gender equality. This excellent book provides extensive justifications for laws and policies which encourage and facilitate the reconciliation of paid work, family life and care-giving. It provides a wealth of data, from a number of jurisdictions, and examines recent trends. It is vital that this area of law and policy is protected and developed and this book plays an important role in that process.’
– Clare McGlynn, Durham University, UK

This unique selection of chapters brings together researchers from a variety of academic disciplines to explore aspects of law’s engagement with working families. It connects academic debate with policy proposals through an integrated set of approaches and perspectives.

Families, Care-giving and Paid Work offers an original approach to a very topical area. Not only does it consider the limitations of law in relation to the regulation of care-giving and workplace relationships, but it is premised upon a re-consideration of law’s potential and engages with suggested strategies for bringing about long-term social change.

Offering a range of analyses, this book will strongly appeal to policymakers and practitioners involved with promoting work and family issues, students in labour and employment studies, law and social policy, as well as academics interested in work and family reconciliation issues, or gender and law issues.

Contents:

Introduction
Nicole Busby and Grace James

PART I: WORK–FAMILY CHALLENGES
1. Reconciling Employment and Family Care-giving: A Gender Analysis of Current Challenges and Future Directions for UK Policy
Suzi Macpherson

2. Atypical Working in Europe and the Impact on Work–Family Reconciliation
Clare Lyonette

3. Is There a Fundamental Right to Reconcile Work and Family Life in the EU?
Eugenia Caracciolo di Torella

PART II: NATIONAL APPROACHES AND CROSS-NATIONAL CONSIDERATIONS
4. The Rights and Realities of Balancing Work and Family Life in New Zealand
Annick Masselot

5. Law’s Response to the Reconciliation of Work and Care: The Australian Case
Sara Charlesworth

6. Parental Leave Rights in Italy: Reconciling Gender Ideologies with the Demands of Europeanization
Roberta Guerrina

7. Comparative Lessons on Work–Family Conflict – Swedish Parental Leave versus American Parental Leave
Michelle Weldon-Johns

PART III: ACCOMMODATING CARE
8. Care-giving and Reasonable Adjustment in the UK
Rachel Horton

9. Reconciling Care-giving and Work in Ireland: The Contribution of Protection Against Family Status Discrimination
Olivia Smith

PART IV: CHANGING FOCUS
10. Child Welfare and Work–Family Reconciliation Policies: Lessons from Family Law
Grace James and Thérèse Callus

11. Unpaid Care-giving and Paid Work Within a Rights Framework: Towards Reconciliation?
Nicole Busby

Bibliography

Index