4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence

This chapter reviews studies investigating childcare trends in European countries. Over recent decades, mothers and fathers have significantly increased their time spent with children. Parents have adopted more intensive parenting norms, shifting to more direct, supervised and orchestrated parenting...

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Main Authors: Berghammer, Caroline, Milkie, Melissa A.
Formato: Online
Idioma:inglês
Publicado em: Edward Elgar Publishing 2026
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Acesso em linha:https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/172049
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author Berghammer, Caroline
Milkie, Melissa A.
author_browse Berghammer, Caroline
Milkie, Melissa A.
author_facet Berghammer, Caroline
Milkie, Melissa A.
author_sort Berghammer, Caroline
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description This chapter reviews studies investigating childcare trends in European countries. Over recent decades, mothers and fathers have significantly increased their time spent with children. Parents have adopted more intensive parenting norms, shifting to more direct, supervised and orchestrated parenting. While mothers continue to do more childcare, fathers’ involvement has risen more steeply, reducing gender inequality in childcare. The share of fathers who remain uninvolved has decreased. Mothers perform more childcare during weekdays in routine, time-sensitive tasks, activities that disrupt employment and have a higher mental load. We also note that higher-educated parents tend to invest more time in childcare, potentially widening socio-economic inequalities in child development. Furthermore, differences in welfare state policies shape parental involvement, with Nordic countries exhibiting more balanced childcare responsibilities. We conclude with implications for policies that may create the best conditions for parents as they care for the next generation.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1720492026-02-13T15:52:56Z 4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence Berghammer, Caroline Milkie, Melissa A. Europe; Cross-national; Childcare; Time spent with children; Intensive parenting; Gender JHBK JHBA This chapter reviews studies investigating childcare trends in European countries. Over recent decades, mothers and fathers have significantly increased their time spent with children. Parents have adopted more intensive parenting norms, shifting to more direct, supervised and orchestrated parenting. While mothers continue to do more childcare, fathers’ involvement has risen more steeply, reducing gender inequality in childcare. The share of fathers who remain uninvolved has decreased. Mothers perform more childcare during weekdays in routine, time-sensitive tasks, activities that disrupt employment and have a higher mental load. We also note that higher-educated parents tend to invest more time in childcare, potentially widening socio-economic inequalities in child development. Furthermore, differences in welfare state policies shape parental involvement, with Nordic countries exhibiting more balanced childcare responsibilities. We conclude with implications for policies that may create the best conditions for parents as they care for the next generation. Published 2026-02-13T15:52:54Z 2026-02-13T15:52:54Z 2025-12-09 chapter 9781035319251 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/172049 eng image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://www.e-elgar.com/shop/gbp/the-sociology-of-families-9781035319244.html https://www.elgaronline.com/edcollchap-oa/book/9781035319251/chapter4.xml Edward Elgar Publishing Edward Elgar Publishing 10.4337/9781035319251.00013 10.4337/9781035319251.00013 01ceac28-75b4-492a-8eec-f9b98bc6b28c https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ 9781035319251 Edward Elgar Publishing Cheltenham, UK open access
spellingShingle Europe; Cross-national; Childcare; Time spent with children; Intensive parenting; Gender
JHBK
JHBA
Berghammer, Caroline
Milkie, Melissa A.
4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence
title 4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence
title_full 4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence
title_fullStr 4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence
title_full_unstemmed 4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence
title_short 4: Trends in time with children in European countries: Intensification and gender convergence
title_sort 4 trends in time with children in european countries intensification and gender convergence
topic Europe; Cross-national; Childcare; Time spent with children; Intensive parenting; Gender
JHBK
JHBA
topic_facet Europe; Cross-national; Childcare; Time spent with children; Intensive parenting; Gender
JHBK
JHBA
url https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/172049
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AT milkiemelissaa 4trendsintimewithchildrenineuropeancountriesintensificationandgenderconvergence