The Future of Motherhood in Western Societies

by Beets, Gijs; Schippers, Joop; te Velde, Egbert R.

• ISBN13: 9789048189687
• ISBN10: 9048189683
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-12-15
• Publisher: Springer Verlag

Summary

The view that differences between men and women have become irrelevant in social and economic respects is questioned over and over again. Modern biology and psychology has taught us that men and women differ in how they think, feel and act. These differences are partly due to our long evolutionary history and cannot be removed by a few well-intentioned measures within a couple of years, as many emancipation ideologists and politicians seem to think. ‘True’ equality does not mean that women should be exactly the same as men or that they should be able to do the same things, but rather that they should have equal footing and the same opportunities to develop themselves. For many women this also includes the possibility of becoming a mother. ‘True’ emancipation maintains an interpretation of equality that not only accepts the differences between men and women but also values them. As stressed by Esping-Andersen a society that respects this view will ensure that a woman, in addition to working and developing a career, will be given ample opportunity to have children and to care for them if that is one of her life course preferences. A life course approach to policy making acknowledges the fact that all citizens – women and men – have abilities in different fields and that they want to use and develop these abilities with differing intensities throughout their life course.

Table of Contents

Introduction	p. 1
Is Women's Emancipation Still Compatible with Motherhood in Western Societies?	p. 5
Males and Females: The Big Little Difference	p. 17
Sexual Differentiation of the Human Brain and Male/Female Behaviour	p. 33
On the Societal Impact of Modern Contraception	p. 49
The Demography of the Age at First Birth: The Close Relationship between Having Children and Postponement	p. 61
The Economic Rationality of Late Parenthood	p. 91
The Complexity of Parenthood in Modern Societies	p. 107
The Importance of Children and Families in Welfare States	p. 125
The Post-career Mom: Reproductive Technology and the Promise of Reproductive Choice	p. 149
On Delayed Fatherhood: The Social and Subjective "Logics" at Work in Men's Lives (a UK Study)	p. 159
Women's Lifestyle Preferences in the 21st Century: Implications for Family Policy	p. 177
The Future of Motherhood: Conclusions and Discussion	p. 197
Author Index	p. 211
Subject Index	p. 217
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