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Research Handbook on the Sociology of the Family
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Exploring how family life has radically changed in recent decades, this comprehensive Research Handbook tracks the latest developments and trends in scholarly work on the family. With a particular focus on the European context, it addresses current debates and offers insights into key topics including: the division of housework, family forms and living arrangements, intergenerational relationships, partner choice, divorce and fertility behaviour.
Exploring how family life has radically changed in recent decades, this comprehensive Research Handbook tracks the latest developments and trends in scholarly work on the family. With a particular focus on the European context, it addresses current debates and offers insights into key topics including: the division of housework, family forms and living arrangements, intergenerational relationships, partner choice, divorce and fertility behaviour.
More Information
Critical Acclaim
Contributors
Contents
More Information
Exploring how family life has radically changed in recent decades, this comprehensive Research Handbook tracks the latest developments and trends in scholarly work on the family. With a particular focus on the European context, it addresses current debates and offers insights into key topics including: the division of housework, family forms and living arrangements, intergenerational relationships, partner choice, divorce and fertility behaviour.
Bringing together contributions from leading family sociologists, the Research Handbook examines important questions: have family patterns across different countries become more similar, or have differences between countries and social groups increased over time? How diverse are family forms across different countries? How do conventional theories explain these patterns? And what are the major innovations in theorising and describing family behaviour? In order to resolve these key points, the chapters provide an overview of past and present developments in scholarly work on European families. They also present concise overviews of theories, methods, critical debates, empirical findings and pathways for future research.
Its analysis of important areas of research in the field will make this Research Handbook a valuable resource for scholars and students of sociology, demography, and family and gender policy. It will also be beneficial for policy experts in these fields.
Bringing together contributions from leading family sociologists, the Research Handbook examines important questions: have family patterns across different countries become more similar, or have differences between countries and social groups increased over time? How diverse are family forms across different countries? How do conventional theories explain these patterns? And what are the major innovations in theorising and describing family behaviour? In order to resolve these key points, the chapters provide an overview of past and present developments in scholarly work on European families. They also present concise overviews of theories, methods, critical debates, empirical findings and pathways for future research.
Its analysis of important areas of research in the field will make this Research Handbook a valuable resource for scholars and students of sociology, demography, and family and gender policy. It will also be beneficial for policy experts in these fields.
Critical Acclaim
‘The Research Handbook brings together contributions from leading international experts within the field of the sociology of the family, drawing on disciplinary backgrounds in theoretical and empirical sociology, demography, economics, political science and wider social sciences. By providing a comprehensive overview of the key issues and debates within contemporary European family sociology, ranging from the gendered division of work within families, intimate and intergenerational relationships, through to the role of family policies and different welfare regimes, it will be critical reading for all scholars interested in how families are coping and how they are evolving. The list of contributors reads like a “who’s who” and the book will rightly gain a place on the bookshelves of family researchers, practitioners and policy makers across the globe.’
– Jane Falkingham, University of Southampton, UK
‘The contributors to this book are an impressive group of scholars who have conducted leading research on European families. Individual chapters provide clear and comprehensive roadmaps to an extensive variety of topics in family research. Especially impressive are several thoughtful discussions of classic and emerging theory that should be required reading for anyone embarking on a sociological study of family life. A particular strength of the theoretical discussions and research reviews is their engagement with innovative understandings of gender in families and societies.’
– Elizabeth Thomson, Stockholm University, Sweden and University of Wisconsin-Madison, US
– Jane Falkingham, University of Southampton, UK
‘The contributors to this book are an impressive group of scholars who have conducted leading research on European families. Individual chapters provide clear and comprehensive roadmaps to an extensive variety of topics in family research. Especially impressive are several thoughtful discussions of classic and emerging theory that should be required reading for anyone embarking on a sociological study of family life. A particular strength of the theoretical discussions and research reviews is their engagement with innovative understandings of gender in families and societies.’
– Elizabeth Thomson, Stockholm University, Sweden and University of Wisconsin-Madison, US
Contributors
Contributors: M.A. Adler, G. Andersson, L. Baldassar, C. Berghammer, L. Bernardi, A. Berrington, J. Bradshaw, M. Bujard, E. Cukrowska-Torzewska, P. Dykstra, J. Ehmer, M. Eriksson Kirsch, A. Esteve, M. Evertsson, A.E. Fasang, A. Geerts, D. Grunow, A. Herz, M. Kilkey, D. Konietzka, M. Kreyenfeld, N.M. Legewie, K. Lenz, C. Liu, A. Matysiak, L. Merla, D. Mortelmans, B. Nauck, G. Neyer, R. Nieuwenhuis, J. Passet-Wittig, N.F. Schneider, W. Sigle, J. Skopek, T. Sobotka, O. Sullivan, J. Van Bavel, G. Viry, E. Widmer, R. Wilding, U. Zartler
Contents
Contents:
Preface xv
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 Introduction: The sociology of the family – towards a European perspective 2
Norbert F. Schneider and Michaela Kreyenfeld
PART II THEORETICAL ADVANCES IN FAMILY RESEARCH
2 Welfare state regimes, family policies, and family behaviour 22
Gerda Neyer
3 Cross-cultural perspectives in family research 42
Bernhard Nauck
4 Family diversity in a configurational perspective 60
Eric D. Widmer
5 Life course sociology: Key concepts and applications in family sociology 73
Dirk Konietzka and Michaela Kreyenfeld
PART III NEW PERSPECTIVES IN FAMILY RESEARCH
6 Digital family research 89
Nicolas M. Legewie and Anette E. Fasang
7 Qualitative longitudinal research in family sociology 107
Laura Bernardi
8 Families from a network perspective 125
Gil Viry and Andreas Herz
PART IV FAMILY DIVERSITY AND FAMILY CHANGE
9 A historical perspective on family change in Europe 143
Josef Ehmer
10 Demography of family change in Europe 162
Tomáš Sobotka and Caroline Berghammer
11 Living arrangements across households in Europe 187
Chia Liu and Albert Esteve
12 Living arrangements in later life 205
Pearl A. Dykstra
PART V FAMILY TRANSITIONS IN THE LIFE COURSE
13 Partner choice and partner markets 219
Jan Van Bavel
14 Causes and consequences of family dissolution in Europe and
post-divorce families 232
Dimitri Mortelmans
15 Fertility desires, intentions, and behaviour 248
Ann Berrington
16 Family behaviour of migrants 263
Gunnar Andersson
PART VI INTIMATE AND INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
17 Grandparent status and multigenerational relationships 278
Jan Skopek
18 Children and parents after separation 300
Ulrike Zartler
19 Emotions, love, and sexuality in committed relationships 314
Karl Lenz and Marina A. Adler
PART VII NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE DIVISION OF WORK IN FAMILIES
20 Gender and labour market outcomes 329
Anna Matysiak and Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska
21 The gender division of housework and child care 342
Oriel Sullivan
22 Couples’ transitions to parenthood: Why the female partner’s earnings
advantage fails to predict efficient specialisation 355
Daniela Grunow
23 Family sociological theories questioned: Same-sex parent families
sharing work and care 373
Marie Evertsson, Madeleine Eriksson Kirsch, and Allison Geerts
24 ‘Plus ça change’? The gendered legacies of mid-twentieth-century
conceptualisations of the form and function of the family 386
Wendy Sigle
25 Poverty and the family in Europe 400
Jonathan Bradshaw and Rense Nieuwenhuis
26 Medically assisted reproduction in developed countries: Overview and
societal challenges 417
Jasmin Passet-Wittig and Martin Bujard
27 Key developments and future prospects in the study of transnational families 439
Laura Merla, Majella Kilkey, Raelene Wilding, and Loretta Baldassar
Index
Preface xv
PART I INTRODUCTION
1 Introduction: The sociology of the family – towards a European perspective 2
Norbert F. Schneider and Michaela Kreyenfeld
PART II THEORETICAL ADVANCES IN FAMILY RESEARCH
2 Welfare state regimes, family policies, and family behaviour 22
Gerda Neyer
3 Cross-cultural perspectives in family research 42
Bernhard Nauck
4 Family diversity in a configurational perspective 60
Eric D. Widmer
5 Life course sociology: Key concepts and applications in family sociology 73
Dirk Konietzka and Michaela Kreyenfeld
PART III NEW PERSPECTIVES IN FAMILY RESEARCH
6 Digital family research 89
Nicolas M. Legewie and Anette E. Fasang
7 Qualitative longitudinal research in family sociology 107
Laura Bernardi
8 Families from a network perspective 125
Gil Viry and Andreas Herz
PART IV FAMILY DIVERSITY AND FAMILY CHANGE
9 A historical perspective on family change in Europe 143
Josef Ehmer
10 Demography of family change in Europe 162
Tomáš Sobotka and Caroline Berghammer
11 Living arrangements across households in Europe 187
Chia Liu and Albert Esteve
12 Living arrangements in later life 205
Pearl A. Dykstra
PART V FAMILY TRANSITIONS IN THE LIFE COURSE
13 Partner choice and partner markets 219
Jan Van Bavel
14 Causes and consequences of family dissolution in Europe and
post-divorce families 232
Dimitri Mortelmans
15 Fertility desires, intentions, and behaviour 248
Ann Berrington
16 Family behaviour of migrants 263
Gunnar Andersson
PART VI INTIMATE AND INTERGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS
17 Grandparent status and multigenerational relationships 278
Jan Skopek
18 Children and parents after separation 300
Ulrike Zartler
19 Emotions, love, and sexuality in committed relationships 314
Karl Lenz and Marina A. Adler
PART VII NEW INSIGHTS INTO THE DIVISION OF WORK IN FAMILIES
20 Gender and labour market outcomes 329
Anna Matysiak and Ewa Cukrowska-Torzewska
21 The gender division of housework and child care 342
Oriel Sullivan
22 Couples’ transitions to parenthood: Why the female partner’s earnings
advantage fails to predict efficient specialisation 355
Daniela Grunow
23 Family sociological theories questioned: Same-sex parent families
sharing work and care 373
Marie Evertsson, Madeleine Eriksson Kirsch, and Allison Geerts
24 ‘Plus ça change’? The gendered legacies of mid-twentieth-century
conceptualisations of the form and function of the family 386
Wendy Sigle
25 Poverty and the family in Europe 400
Jonathan Bradshaw and Rense Nieuwenhuis
26 Medically assisted reproduction in developed countries: Overview and
societal challenges 417
Jasmin Passet-Wittig and Martin Bujard
27 Key developments and future prospects in the study of transnational families 439
Laura Merla, Majella Kilkey, Raelene Wilding, and Loretta Baldassar
Index
