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Parental Employment Patterns in the Czech Republic: Economic Rationality or Cultural Norm?

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Rethinking Gender, Work and Care in a New Europe

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Abstract

As one of the post-communist countries, the Czech Republic has gone through a transition from a state-planned to a market economy, which has influenced, among many other processes, the situation in the labour market. The route to economic and political transformation has been described in detail elsewhere (for example Večernik, 1996; Potůček, 1998, 1999; Hamplová, 2003). The aim of this chapter was to explore the influence of motherhood and fatherhood on the position in the labour market in the Czech Republic in the context of the work-life reconciliation policy measures. With the results, we would like to contribute to the ongoing discussion on the impact of the institutional setting and the cultural norms related to motherhood and parenthood on the employment of men and women. The chapter concentrates on the situation of Czech mothers and fathers with young children during the period from the beginning of the political changes in 1989 until the aftermath of the global economic crisis in 2009. The distribution of risks regarding labour market participation — insecurity in the labour market and poverty — was considered in the specific cultural and institutional context.

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Authors
  1. Lenka Formánková
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  2. Blanka Plasová
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  3. Jiří Vyhlídal
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Tallinn University, Estonia

    Triin Roosalu (Associate Professor of Sociology) (Associate Professor of Sociology)

  2. University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

    Dirk Hofäcker (Professor of Quantitative Methods of Social Research) (Professor of Quantitative Methods of Social Research)

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© 2016 Lenka Formánková, Blanka Plasová and Jiří Vyhlídal

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Formánková, L., Plasová, B., Vyhlídal, J. (2016). Parental Employment Patterns in the Czech Republic: Economic Rationality or Cultural Norm?. In: Roosalu, T., Hofäcker, D. (eds) Rethinking Gender, Work and Care in a New Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137371096_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137371096_7

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-349-57128-4

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-37109-6

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

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