Parenting and Work. A comparative study between Sweden and Macedonia.
(2016) HARH16 20152Department of Business Law
- Abstract
- The existing parenting protection legislation affects the labour market by setting standards for working parents. This to make sure they have the right to leave in order to take care of their children. These laws regulate not only the time frame and the days allowed for leave, but also contribute to the general view on gender roles and views on which parent is the primary one. The conservative perception of the mother as the primary care taker is tangibly present which consequently leads to the view of males as the traditional workers. Subsequently gaps in women’s career paths are being occurred in societies where the mothers usually refrain time from paid labour in order to take care of the common children. At the same time, room is being... (More)
- The existing parenting protection legislation affects the labour market by setting standards for working parents. This to make sure they have the right to leave in order to take care of their children. These laws regulate not only the time frame and the days allowed for leave, but also contribute to the general view on gender roles and views on which parent is the primary one. The conservative perception of the mother as the primary care taker is tangibly present which consequently leads to the view of males as the traditional workers. Subsequently gaps in women’s career paths are being occurred in societies where the mothers usually refrain time from paid labour in order to take care of the common children. At the same time, room is being given for the fathers to have a family life and keep their career intact, since the burden of taking care of their children is not expected nor required from them. Also, by perceiving gender in this way, leads to discrimination of women in the labour market. With the aim to eliminate this, directives from the EU has been developed, aiming at gained equality and giving working mothers further rights and by these create uniformity within the EU. The lack of existing legislation which aims at incorporate the males to take part of the parental leave are clearly absent. In both Sweden and Macedonia, which are being compared in this thesis, the case is so. Apart from this, the laws differ substantially in the two countries. This comparison is giving a glimpse of how these two European countries are interpreting the same directives regarding parenting and work. It proves that women do take most of the parental leave which consequently lets the working fathers choose whether or not they want to participate in the child care, a choice that is not given to the working mothers. It can be argued that these laws are not achieving their main aim in gaining an equal labour market and may be seen as insufficient. However, they seem to be in constant change which may lead to a more equal labour market and hence society in the future. (Less)
- Abstract (Swedish)
- De lagar som finns gällande föräldraledighet påverkar arbetsmarknaden genom att sätta normer för arbetande föräldrar. De reglerar inte bara hur mycket och under hur lång tid en arbetande förälder kan vara ledig, utan bidrar också till den generella synen på könsrollerna i samhället och med det även synen på vem som är den primära föräldern. Den konservativa uppfattningen av modern som den huvudsakliga vårdgivaren av barnen är påtagligt närvarande i dessa lagar. Följaktligen leder detta till att den generella synen på en traditionell förvärvsarbetare är en man. Som ett resultat av bland annat dessa lagar uppstår avbrott i kvinnors karriärer i samhällen där de arbetande mödrarna oftast tar ut det mesta av föräldraledigheten och därmed avstår... (More)
- De lagar som finns gällande föräldraledighet påverkar arbetsmarknaden genom att sätta normer för arbetande föräldrar. De reglerar inte bara hur mycket och under hur lång tid en arbetande förälder kan vara ledig, utan bidrar också till den generella synen på könsrollerna i samhället och med det även synen på vem som är den primära föräldern. Den konservativa uppfattningen av modern som den huvudsakliga vårdgivaren av barnen är påtagligt närvarande i dessa lagar. Följaktligen leder detta till att den generella synen på en traditionell förvärvsarbetare är en man. Som ett resultat av bland annat dessa lagar uppstår avbrott i kvinnors karriärer i samhällen där de arbetande mödrarna oftast tar ut det mesta av föräldraledigheten och därmed avstår från förvärvsarbete. Samtidigt ges det utrymme för fäder att erhålla familjeliv utan att bryta deras karriärbana, då bördan att ta hand om barnen varken förväntas eller krävs från dem. Synen på könen utifrån detta perspektiv leder också till diskriminering av kvinnor på arbetsmarkanaden. Med syftet att eliminera detta har EU utvecklat direktiv med avsikten att öka jämställdheten samt ge arbetande mödrar ytterligare rättigheter och med detta skapa en större enhetlighet inom EU. Avsaknaden av lagar som syftar till att involvera männen att ta ut större del av föräldraledigheten är påtagligt frånvarande. Så är fallet i både Sverige och Makedonien som jämförs i denna uppsats. Förutom detta så skiljer sig lagarna i huvudsak i de båda länderna. Jämförelsen ger en inblick i hur Europeiska länder tolkar samma direktiv gällande föräldraledighet och arbete. Det visar att kvinnor tar ut mest av föräldraledigheten vilket resulterar i att de arbetande papporna kan välja vare sig de vill involvera sig i barnomsorgen eller inte, ett val som inte ges till de arbetande kvinnorna. Med detta sagt kan man tolka det som så att direktiven och bestämmelserna inte uppnår sina primära mål att öka jämställdheten på arbetsmarknaden och kan därmed ses som bristfälliga. Trots detta verkar de vara i ständig förändring vilket kanske kommer leda till en mer jämställd arbetsmarknad och mer jämställt samhälle i framtiden. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/8522056
- author
- Mirkoska, Katerina LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- HARH16 20152
- year
- 2016
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- language
- English
- id
- 8522056
- date added to LUP
- 2016-01-19 14:38:16
- date last changed
- 2016-01-19 14:38:16
@misc{8522056,
abstract = {{The existing parenting protection legislation affects the labour market by setting standards for working parents. This to make sure they have the right to leave in order to take care of their children. These laws regulate not only the time frame and the days allowed for leave, but also contribute to the general view on gender roles and views on which parent is the primary one. The conservative perception of the mother as the primary care taker is tangibly present which consequently leads to the view of males as the traditional workers. Subsequently gaps in women’s career paths are being occurred in societies where the mothers usually refrain time from paid labour in order to take care of the common children. At the same time, room is being given for the fathers to have a family life and keep their career intact, since the burden of taking care of their children is not expected nor required from them. Also, by perceiving gender in this way, leads to discrimination of women in the labour market. With the aim to eliminate this, directives from the EU has been developed, aiming at gained equality and giving working mothers further rights and by these create uniformity within the EU. The lack of existing legislation which aims at incorporate the males to take part of the parental leave are clearly absent. In both Sweden and Macedonia, which are being compared in this thesis, the case is so. Apart from this, the laws differ substantially in the two countries. This comparison is giving a glimpse of how these two European countries are interpreting the same directives regarding parenting and work. It proves that women do take most of the parental leave which consequently lets the working fathers choose whether or not they want to participate in the child care, a choice that is not given to the working mothers. It can be argued that these laws are not achieving their main aim in gaining an equal labour market and may be seen as insufficient. However, they seem to be in constant change which may lead to a more equal labour market and hence society in the future.}},
author = {{Mirkoska, Katerina}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Parenting and Work. A comparative study between Sweden and Macedonia.}},
year = {{2016}},
}