This paper develops a multidimensional scale to measure intergenerational solidarity (IS) to assess its psychometric properties and to examine the invariance of the instrument across genders. Using the theoretical framework of Bengtson and his colleagues (Bengtson and Roberts 1991; Mangen, Bengtson, and Landry 1988), we measure five out of six conceptual dimensions of intergenerational solidarity with a new dimension that we developed that is called systematic solidarity.

By using a sample of 201 valid questionnaires, different analyses were conducted to validate the new scale. The definitive scale that was proposed to measure IS is comprised of four dimensions, namely, normative solidarity and the three affective solidarities (which relate to parents, partner and children). Finally, we provide evidence of the consistency of this scale across gender differences.

The finding that gender role beliefs have become more egalitarian in western industrialized countries over the last decades is quite uncontested. In quantitative studies, this conclusion is drawn from the percentage of “egalitarian” answers to single items or scores on unidimensional indices. Considering the complexity of gender role attitudes, for example when women’s public and private roles are evaluated differently, we propose to identify different attitudinal patterns by the application of latent class analysis. This approach also facilitates statistical testing of measurement invariance, which means that it can be verified whether the structure of the concept “gender egalitarianism” and respondents’ understanding of the items remain stable over time.

Using representative data from the German General Social Survey (ALLBUS) in 1991 (n=3049) and 2012 (n=1726), we demonstrate that at both time points, five classes can be distinguished which differ quantitatively by the extent of egalitarianism as well as qualitatively by the combination of positions towards women’s roles in the public and private sphere. Our analysis reveals that the structure of class profiles remains remarkably stable over time. While there is a strong increase in the proportion of egalitarian classes, the number of “ambivalent egalitarians” who support gender equity in paid labour while fearing negative consequences for children decreases. Further, we investigate the influence of socio-demographic covariates such as age, gender or region on class membership. We conclude with a discussion of the substantial and methodological implications of our approach.

There is an extensive literature on the domestic division of labor in social sciences. Usually, analyses are restricted to the division of household labor by applying regression models where the dependent variable is constructed as the absolute or relative amount of housework separately for men and women.

However, this paper argues that focusing only on the domestic sphere ignores the multidimensional character of interactions between couples. Frequently applied resource, gender role and time availability approaches as well as Becker’s theory on the family do not solely focus on the domestic side of the division of labor in theoretical terms. It is Becker’s main argument that marital exchange is based on the allocation of time on the household and market sector (Becker 1991, p. 32).

Further, empirical approaches ignore the genuinely dyadic nature of the division of labor. Traditional survey data does not comprise information of two agents such as husband and wife. Hence, the application of individualistic models seemed appropriate. In this contribution, we support the utilization of dyadic data for the application of theories on marital exchange We propose a classification technique drawing on finite mixture models (Schmitz 2009) as generalizations of traditional multivariate techniques making use of the statistical dependence between both actors and the complex structure of division of labor.

By using data from the German Family Panel (pairfam), the first purpose is to identify typical dyadic patterns within the interactions of heterosexual couples and further interpret these patterns against the background of the theories mentioned above.

The main aim of my presentation is to discuss the methodological assumptions of the research project „Family and parenting practices in traditional and postmodern families - reconstruction of daily routines” which I'm presently realizing.

The theoretical basis for my project has been given by David H. G. Morgan. In his view, researchers should focus not on socio-demographical characteristics of the family, but on how the family is ’being done’. Family is defined rather as a combination of practices, then a social institution. In this context one can say that family is ’being done’ by daily actions of its members. Looking for tools for research on family practices, it is valuable to refer to Jean Claude Kaufmann’s view and his definition of habit.

Using as inspiration the of Morgan’s and Kaufmmana’s theories I intend to analyse the ’obvious part’ of daily life, family routines as well as family and parenting practices in two groups of Polish families: ’traditional’ and ’postmodern’.

The main hypothesis of this project is as follows: polarisation of the family life paradigms in contemporary Poland is growing, and therefore the gap between ’traditional’ and ’postmodern’ family models is widening. With a view to verifying this research hypothesis I’d going (among others) to analyse the day-to-day routines and family and parenting practices.

Intergenerational transfers of money, time and space are important manifestations of functional solidarity in contemporary societies. Previous research on solidarity patterns between family generations has revealed considerable cohesion and support in Europe. Whereas previous empirical studies have mainly addressed the causes and consequences of intergenerational solidarity patterns of natives, the population of foreign origin has often been neglected or limited to a specific (ethnic) population. However, experiences caused by migration as well as the situation in the host country can affect intergenerational relations, not least in respect to support patterns.

Against the background of contemporary multi-ethnic and transnational societies, the question of differences between natives and migrants is particularly crucial. Therefore, our proposed contribution focuses on (a) differences and similarities in functional solidarity between migrant, interethnic and native families in Europe, (b) differences within migrant families, as well as (c) variations between European countries. The empirical analyses are based on the fifth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), which is a multidisciplinary and cross-national dataset that offers extensive information on both native and immigrant families. The data was collected in 2013 and includes 14 European countries.

Overall, the empirical analyses prove that European family generations are strongly connected via various forms of functional solidarity. Nevertheless, migration matters in many ways. In addition to significant differences between natives and migrants, we also observe specific patterns of migrant families according to household composition, duration of stay and the country of origin.

Background and purpose: The phenomenon of four-generation of families has considerably grown in recent years. The purpose of this study was to examine the role perception of great-grandparents and the meaning of their relationships with great-grandchildren for their quality of life compared to grandparents.

Method: The sample included 103 great-grandparents (mean age 81.9) and 111 grandparents (mean age 62.6). The meaning of the great-grandparents' role was examined using the multidimensional experience of grandparenthood set of inventories (Findler, Taubman-Ben-Ari, Nuttman- Shwarts, & Lazar, 2013). Quality of life was assessed using the WHOQOL of world health organization which was developed in Israel by Ben-Yacob & Amir (2001).

Results: The findings show that when the great-grandparenthood is experienced as meaningful, and regarded as a continuity of the family, and when the great-grandparents feel more positive emotions toward their great-grandchildren they are more likely to help them. However, great-grandparenthood is not as strong and meaningful as grandparenthood, and the great-grandparents give practical help less than the grandparents. In addition, positive correlations were found between behavioral dimension and quality of life both for grandparents and great-grandparents. The regression tests showed for great-grandparents that when their health and economic situations are better, they are more educated, and feel positive emotions towards the great-grandchildren, their quality of life is better

Conclusions: These results reflect a perception of the role of great-grandparenthood as meaningful, and show the importance of the relationships between great-grandparents and their great-grandchildren, and its contribution to the great-grandparents' generation.

Housing is a crucial part of a family’s welfare. In many European countries, homeownership provides this welfare. Housing becomes the most important part of the family’s wealth and asset management, it might provide additional economic welfare through financial returns and probably most important in a family context, housing might constitute an important condition for intergenerational relations and transfers.

Norway is one of the countries with the highest rate of homeownership. Apart from very few exceptions, the house prices have been increasing every years since 1993. In this way, elderly people have received an increased value of their real assets, while the younger people have met steady higher prices when their try to buy their first home.

Through a nationwide survey from the fall of 2015, we compare young people (aged between 20 and 30) with a generation on the average 40 years older (between 60 and 70). We analyze the difference in their real and financial assets, which types of assistance the younger generation has received from older family members and which type of assistance the elderly have given to younger close relatives.

Individualism has not emerged completely in Muslim societies such as Iran; like the way it’s appeared in the West. Because of the cultural, economic and structural features of these societies we could not expect an independent individualized person like those we observe in Western Europe and USA. There are many social, economic and cultural necessities that are in contrary with that. The individualism in these societies often is family-oriented. The smallest identity unit is the family before that somebody could be an individual. Therefore individuality is defined as the sub-category of family. When people say that nobody cares about them or the humanity, they do not mean their family because families are always their supporters and they define themselves along with their own families.

This paper is the result of a survey among 907residents of Tehran who are over 18 years. We tried to describe individualism status, its features and, family-oriented individualism and the factors that affect its formation. Therefore we have considered values, beliefs and behaviors and here we have presented our findings. Based on our survey 87% of respondents are living with their families. 70% believe that in case of any problem their families should help them. 70% believe that family interests are prior to their own interests. 86% believe that families should control their children’s behaviors.

The sociodemographic transformations which occurred in the last decades (e.g., growth of life expectancy, increased participation of women in the labor market) have had a profound impact in family life. Intergenerational solidarity constitutes today, more than ever, a valuable resource to family functioning, especially in countries characterized by familistic values and where the State does not provide the necessary support to families, such as Portugal. Furthermore, family research has been characterized by heteronormativity and studies with families with nonheterosexual children have mainly focused on specific variables associated with the sexual identity of these individuals. Thus, there is gap in research about intergenerational solidarity processes between nonheterosexual adult children and their parents. Relying on the conceptual framework of the Intergenerational Solidarity Paradigm (Bengtson & Roberts, 1991), we focused on relationships between adult children and their parents. More specifically, we investigated how perceptions of different types of solidarity (e.g. functional, normative, conflictual) vary according to adult children’s gender and sexual orientation. We used a quantitative approach and our sample is constituted by 530 participants: 50.6% women and 54.9% heterosexuals. Results suggest that LGB participants perceived less intergenerational solidarity from their parents than their heterosexual counterparts. Moreover, LGB individuals reported higher levels of conflictual solidarity with their fathers than with their mothers. Results are discussed taking into account (i) scholarship on gender norms and expectations, (ii) research on family processes in families with LGB members, and (iii) characteristics of the Portuguese cultural context.

Intersexed bodies and secrecy are intertwined historically through the medical system's practice. The medical professionals since 1950's ought to quickly normalize intersexed bodies through surgeries and hormonal treatments, in order to fix and conceal the bodily ambiguity and maintain the sex/gender socially order. We will describe the differences between parents who disclosed and speak openly about their children's bodies and parents who conceal their children intersexed bodies in varied ways. This is a collaborative narrative research; still in develop process, which includes 17 parents, 8 parents from Israel and 9 from Germany. There are three main parental strategies we are focusing on in our research, bodily dialogue, gender/sex framing and concealing/revealing practices. In this paper we will describe and demonstrate the concealing/revealing practices of the parents, how they maneuvering between private/public spheres and in which inter-relation spaces they conceal/reveal their children's' bodies.

The present paper provides insights into the experiences of partners of transgender people. Existing research on this topic shows us that coming out as transgender by one partner during marriage or a long term relationship can be a shock for the other partner and often results in relationship dissolution. When the couple has children together this brings additional challenges. Various studies suggest that partners may need to feel that they are involved in the disclosure process towards their children and that they play particularly a decisive role in the way children react on the transition of their transgender parent. Current paper addresses the topic of being partner and at the same parent when your partner comes out and decides to transition. We ask the question which different role conflicts play. Consistent with the multi-actor method and in the tradition of Grounded theory, in-depth interviews were conducted and analysed. At the moment we have interviewed 10 cisgender partners and ex-partners about their experiences during the coming out of their transgender partner or ex-partner. Additional interviews were conducted with their transgender partner or ex-partner (n=8). More interviews in the spring and summer of 2016 will follow. Until now, Various experiences and roles of these partners and ex-partners were observed which can conflicting with each other: Being a supportive ally, a hurt and disappointed romantic partner, an intimate partner with a certain sexual orientation, and a protective parent for their children.

In Spanish law, the mother is the woman who gives birth to the baby. Surrogacy contracts are null and void in Spanish law; nonetheless, Spanish citizens often go to other countries where commercial surrogacy is practiced in order to form their families. How do these Spanish citizens who form their families through surrogacy configure the woman who gives birth as not the mother?

Based on ethnographic research with people involved in surrogacy arrangements from an ongoing research project, and using both interviews with families formed through surrogacy and narratives from the media, this paper will discuss how both heterosexual and homosexual Spanish couples deconstruct the motherhood of the woman who gives birth and reconstruct the parenthood of the commissioning couple. Specifically, this paper will deal with: 1) how role of the woman who gives birth is either strongly downplayed or specifically configured as a kinship but non-mother role, 2) how genetics is emphasized or discounted as a basis for kinship, and 2) how intention, desire and choice are used to create kinship. I will draw on concepts from theory in the anthropology of kinship such as “conception in the heart” and “intention” (Ragoné 1994, Teman 2010), “choice”(Weston 1997), “innkeepers” and “gifts” (Teman 2010, Mauss 1925) and the “other mother” (Bharadwaj 2012), as well as concepts of genetics and kinship (Edwards and Salazar 2009) to try to understand the processes carried out by Spanish commissioning parents.

Background: Over 70% of children in Germany grow up with at least one other child living in the same household (Statistisches Bundesamt 2014). During childhood, sisters and brothers are companions, teachers, role models but also rivals to each other (Walper et al. 2010). Growing up, siblings make very similar, but not the same experiences, and share the same family history (Zukow 1989). Yet, very little research exists on risk for siblings to experience similar types of maltreatment, their effect on the quality of the sibling relationship and long-term consequences in adulthood.

Method: Participants were recruited using an online survey. Through the course of the online survey participants were asked to invite one of their siblings to take part in the study as well. Both siblings answered the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire and further questions about critical life events, questions regarding their relationship with their siblings and parents during childhood as well as a short measure on their own well-being during the last two weeks.

Results: A total of 4568 participants completed the online questionnaire, in 870 cases both siblings participated in the study. Differences and similarities between childhood maltreatment experience and their implication for the quality of the sibling relationship as well as links to well-being in adulthood are reported.

Discussion: Implications of the results for research and practice as well as limitations of the study are discussed.

In Germany – like in most European countries - children are still at greater risk of poverty and of social benefit receipt.

In this paper, we compare the situation of children in low income families with families with a secured financial position (no income poverty or benefit receipt).

For our analysis we use the eight wave of the panel study “Labour Market and Social Security” (PASS), which is an annual household panel survey for research on unemployment, poverty and the welfare state in Germany. The questionnaire includes more than 20 deprivation items to measure economic deprivation which can be defined as the non-availability of goods considers essential for an appropriate standard of living in a society, e.g. having an apartment with balcony, having television, having a hot meal per day, inviting friends for dinner at home.

The analyses show that the living conditions of children in low income households in terms of availability of goods and opportunities to social and cultural participation are characterized by an undersupply in almost all areas considered. Furthermore it is also apparent that financial reserves can hardly be formed and unexpected expenses can rarely be overcome However, in the availability of basic goods only slight differences occur.

This congress looks at megatrends and how they influence families today. Mentioned in the call are several key factors, all of which challenge families “to find their own ways to deal with the consequences of these megatrends”. This paper starts from a slightly different perspective, as it suggests that there are regional and cultural contexts in which families are not challenged to find their own way, but as parts of larger units, namely communities, which serve as factors of resilience and as political actors to enforce interests that will benefit both family and community life. A good example for this close connection between community and family and its benefits in times of transformation are dockland communities in Dublin who have held their own ground against developers amidst regeneration of the former port area. Generally welcome by the residents, many aspects in the master plan have been heavily criticised, particularly if activists see the functioning community/family structure threatened. In the context of these debates, this presentation analyses the close relationship between family and community and how a close community structure can serve as a beneficial and resilience factor for families in disadvantaged areas and times of urban regeneration. The results are based on ethnographic fieldwork in the Dublin docklands between 2002 and 2010, comprising more than 200 structured and semi-structured interviews, supplemented by local archive documents. However, the most detailed insight in community and family life I gained as an anthropological participant observer by becoming part of the communities studied.

The prenatal loss of a child is a significant phenomenon, as 10-25% of women lose at least one pregnancy (Adolfsson, Larsson, 2006; Barton-Smoczyńska, 2006; Bowels i in., 2006).

Next to the the medical aspects of loss also it has a psychological dimension. It is ranks among the traumatic events. Frost and Condon (1996) reviewed 123 articles on the psychological consequences of miscarriage. A characteristic symptom of the test persons was felt mourning. The consequences of psychiatric appeared in the form of depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder. This proves the rightness treatment of miscarriage, and fetal death as a traumatic experience.

As follows from the research, support from the environment emerges as an important factor in coping with a loss. We want to show what kind of support and from whom receive people who have lost a child in the prenatal period. In our study involved 30 couples who have lost a child in the prenatal period, and 30 infertile couples. In the study was used Kmiecik-Baran's Social Support Scale.

Introduction. Pregnancy via assisted reproductive technology (ART) has been described as both rewarding and stressful, given the struggle to conceive. For future parents, prenatal testing may be an additional stressor, heightening their anxiety. This study assessed how couples provided and received support from their partners during this stressful time, and how that support affected their levels of anxiety and depression.

Method. N = 103 couples (52 who used ART and 51 who conceived spontaneously (SP)) completed questionnaires before and after the first-trimester screening and after the morphological ultrasound to assess social support (Dyadic Coping Inventory, Bodenmann, 2008), anxiety (STAI, Vonder, 1986), and depression (EPDS, Cox et al., 1987) using linear mixed models.

Results. Results indicated that: (1) the amount of support that ART and SP men reported to provide to their female partners did not differ (t = -0.598, ns); (2) ART women felt they received less support from their partners than SP women (t = -2.626**); (3) SP women were less anxious (t = 3.365***) and less depressed (t = 3.148**) when they felt supported by their partners, whereas being supported did not decrease anxiety or depression in ART women ; (4) higher levels of depression in ART men increased depressive symptoms in their partners (t = 2.575*).

Conclusion. Perceived support from their partners does not appear to benefit ART women even though it does help reduce anxiety and depression levels in SP women. Pregnancy after infertility challenges both partners: it may affect how they perceive and provide helpful support.

In the last decade research on the concept of coparenting has grown and is mostly understood as a central element of family life influencing parental and child adjustment as well as parenting practices and embedded in partnership quality and parental characteristics. Studies concerning coparenting often focus on divorced families or nuclear families, stepfamilies and cohabiting families are often neglected. Therefore the aim of this study is to test the theoretical “ecological model of Coparenting” (Feinberg 2003) for these family types and compare these two family types with nuclear families. To apply this approach we use the second wave of the German dataset „Growing up in Germany (AID:A). This nationally representative dataset with 22.000 target persons and extensive information about the household composition is well suited for these sorts of analysis. We use subsample of 0-17 year old target children living either with one social and one biological parent in one household (stepfamily) or with two biological cohabiting parents in one household and test die interplay between coparenting, partnership quality, parental depression, child adjustment (SDQ), parenting practices as well as parental adjustment (excessive demands on parental role) with structural equation models (SEM). First results reveal that there are similar patterns of coparenting relations in stepfamilies and nuclear families. We expect that this is also true for cohabiting families.

The transition to parenthood represents a critical and potentially stressful event. To effectively cope with this experience, coping strategies involve not only the individual partners, but the dyad as a whole. Numerous studies have highlighted how the ability of the parents-to-be to adjust to this critical transition is influenced by individual and interpersonal factors.

Aim of the present study is to examine dyadic coping styles in the two partners, specifically targeting aspects of congruence and incongruence. Furthermore, the relationship between dyadic coping and individual and interpersonal variables will be examined.

A sample of 78 couples expecting their first child were recruited while attending prenatal classes in Northern Italy. Each partner completed a set of questionnaires examining: dyadic coping (Dyadic Coping Inventory), anxiety (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory), depression (Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale), social support (Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support), and marital quality (Dyadic Adjustment Scale). Descriptive statistics and bivariate correlations will be calculated among the major study variables. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) will be used to examine actor and partner effects of individual and relational outcomes on couples’ dyadic coping.

Overall couples presented high scores of adaptive coping and individual and relational well-being. Results of the APIM model will highlight that for couples who present good individual and relational outcomes more congruent dyadic coping strategies exist. Furthermore, the analysis of actor and partner effects will highlight relational exchanges that characterize the dyad in this time of adjustment.

Parenthood is important and demanding phase of life. E.g. tightening demands of working life and retrenchments of welfare state are setting challenges for parents. They need social support to cope with tasks and demands connected to parenthood.

Organized peer groups are noteworthy but quite meagerly studied sources of social support. In my presentation, I observe social support attracted from a peer group from mothers’ point of view. Presentation bases on my current PhD project, which finds out what kind of meaning social support gained from a peer group has for mothers. The study is a case study, which concerns certain group of mothers established in 1980s to finnish suburb. Both employees and volunteers are working in the group as persons in charge.

The data is gathered ethnographically. Firstly, the data consists of fieldnotes gathered during participant observation and the documents produced of operation of the group. Secondly, the data includes interviews of mothers and persons in charge participating in the operation of the group. The data will be analysed applying hermeneutic phenomenological approach.

According to the expected results, the peer group is a significant source of social support for mothers. They experience to get support both from each other and from persons in charge. It seems that social support has an empowering meaning for mothers.

Family relationships matter throughout life. They can be a ressource or a burden, for many individuals they are ressource and burden at the same time. In the life of those who grew up in foster care, the relationships with their biological family members are of particular significance and often they are particular complicated.

How young adults from foster care deal with family relationships and how their relationships with their families changes over time is analyzed in a qualitative longitudinal study at the University of Siegen, Germany. The first interview wave took place between 2007 – 2010. We conducted 100 biographical interviews with young adults from foster care. Most of them aged 18-25. The second interview wave takes place from 2014 – 2016. Up to now we were able to re-interview 14 interviewees. The interview partners were between 24 and 35 years old.

We conducted semi-biographical interviews with them about what happened inbetween interview 1 and 2.

All interviews have in common that the biological family matters and the relationship changes over time. Family relationships are lived in different ways, they differ in their importance and in their meaning for transitions in young adult life (romantic relationships, parenthood, school-to-job-transition). Different patterns of relationships with the biological family and their meaning over time will be presented and discussed.

In all our European societies there are children who cannot grow up in their biological family. For these children, contacts with their biological are considered as particular important. This study is part of an ongoing extensive research that investigates the association between outcomes of foster care, according to the perspectives of foster carers, and the existence, or not, of contact between looked after children and their family. It assesses the perception that foster carers have about looked after children’s reactions during and after the contact visit, as well as the difficulties identified in carrying out the contact visits and the placement outcomes. The questionnaires were completed by foster carers between October 2013 and March 2014 and included 217 looked after children integrated in foster care in the Oporto District, which belonged to 159 biological families and were integrated in 140 different foster care families.

The main results show that contact between looked after children and their biological family does not influence significantly the outcomes of foster care; foster care outcomes were in the majority of the cases classified as successful; the long term placement and almost quasi-adoption is the most common type of foster care in Portugal; logistical difficulties, such as travel costs or the distance between the residences of biological families and foster carers; information and communication technologies can have a significant role in this context, such as social networks, since it may contribute to the maintenance of contact and closeness with the biological family.

Social norms (e.g., Stein et al., 1998) and reciprocity (Klaus, 2009) have been shown to predict support behavior of adults towards their parents. Therefore it is assumed that both generate an individual feeling of obligation to support. Embedded in the model of intergenerational solidarity (Bengtson & Roberts, 1991) the associations for social norms, received support by parents and individual feelings of obligation with given support especially emotional as well as instrumental, to parents by adults were tested. Also, the mediating function of feelings of obligation was tested.

The analysis is based on data from a German sample. Participants responded to a standardized self-report questionnaire to two measurement points at an interval of twelve months. The 172 females and 53 males were aged between 22 years and 51 years. 209 responded in regard to their mothers, whereas 186 provided information concerning their fathers. Of these 177 participants answered for both parents.

A differentiated view on gender displayed that adult children felt more obligated and supported their mothers more than they supported fathers. The analysis showed associations for support given by adult children with received support by parents and feelings of obligation. Felt obligation mediated the associations for social norms as well as received support by parents and emotional as well as instrumental support. Differences in the prediction of support for mothers and fathers were not observed.

All across Europe informal home care is provided between partners. Partner caregivers, however, experience an especially burdensome situation since such care is often not only very intense but also linked to losing the partner as confidant.

Different support policies have been established to prevent informal caregivers from social deprivation. It is an important open question how effective these policies are in reducing negative impacts of caregiving on informal caregivers’ health and wellbeing. The objective of this study is to find out how the provision of long-term care (LTC) in a specific region is linked with the quality of life, loneliness, and depression of spousal caregivers.

We apply a multilevel design with data from more than 24.000 Europeans nested in 130 European regions. Individual data is taken from the SHARE study (Wave 5 release 1) and regional macro indicators were retrieved from the OECD and national statistical offices. We find that caregivers state a lower quality of life, they feel lonelier and have higher levels of depression also when controlling for socio-economic factors. The complementary utilization of formal LTC goes along with reduced burden for the caregiver. When including a cross-level interaction we additionally find evidence that the number of LTC beds in a region is positively linked with quality of life and mental health of caregivers, signaling that caregiver burden is reduced by the availability of LTC beds.

Although it is argued that fatherhood is now a more demanding role than it used to be, it is also claimed that in the context of organizations and management, fathers are invisible as such. In the family sphere, women usually have a dominant position and men’s social roles are relatively limited. Typically, fatherhood is presented within a framework of the father as a part-time, secondary parent. The assumption in managerial and professional posts that the employee should be available 24/7 produces and maintains the view that the ideal employee has no, or very few, responsibilities outside work. In this study, we are interested in fatherhood in the context of organizations and management. The mass media, a powerful force in the creation of social reality in contemporary societies, have the power to support certain versions of fatherhood and exclude others.

In this empirical study, critical discourse analysis is applied. Our data is produced systematically from three influential media sources in Finland between 1990 and 2015. We analyzed 67 articles. We interpreted four developing fatherhood discourses from the viewpoint of gender equality. In addition, we interpreted two discourses that are stationary.

We conclude that fatherhood in the context of organization and management is changing. We found that even though fatherhood discourses in the organizational context are mainly developing toward gender equality, there are at the same time other discourses that are putting the brake on such development.

The portrayal of parents in mainstream media, especially in newspaper media, is a resource for (future) parents to construct ideals of what (‘good’) parenting entails. Research examining parenthood in newspaper articles, however, is scarce and a systematic study of the discourses surrounding parenthood in newspaper media is absent. We aim to fill this gap by exploring German newspaper articles containing the terms ‘parenthood’, ‘motherhood’ and ‘fatherhood’ and examine change over time. As research on the construction of parenthood in newspapers focuses on ‘deviant’ forms of parenthood, we draw on literature on new trends in parenthood, including both ‘intensive motherhood’ and ‘intensive parenthood’. Given these recent trends we hypothesize: (1) an increase in the occurrence of parenthood terms over time and (2) the discourse to change towards more ‘intensive’ forms of parenthood, including a greater focus on the mother-child dyad and ‘engaged fathers’. Our analysis is based on newspaper articles from 1994 to 2015 from the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung. Applying a combination of relevance and multistage sampling we select articles from the LexisNexis-database. Using the explorative method of text mining, we combine frequency and co-occurrence analysis and topic models to gain a comprehensive understanding of the discourse on parenthood. Initial findings suggest that the frequency of articles containing the parenthood terms increased strongly in 2006, which coincides with significant policy changes in parental leave, and have remained high since. Overall, our analysis is based on a quantitative analysis of qualitative data, enabling an innovative examination of changing parenthood ideals.

Facebook pages and groups about motherhood are currently an important informal support for mothers, allowing them to give and receive information, share experiences, and get advice on various topics about motherhood performance and childhood requirements. However, Facebook reflects many social stereotypes, particularly on social gender roles. In most European countries an intensive model of motherhood is set, which implies a strong affective involvement of the mother towards her children and that she devotes, before and after birth, much of her time, energy, affection and resources to her children’s care, education and development.

Our study aimed to identify the social model of motherhood prevailing in Portugal. Through the content analysis of descriptions and publications of Portuguese pages and groups in 2015 (n = 198), created by or directed to mothers, it identifies practices, attitudes, feelings and goals assigned to mothers on Facebook, as well as expectations regarding the maternal role.

The results showed that the disseminated maternity model assume the high centrality of children, their needs and interests, and assigns high demands to mothers. The selfless mother's dedication is broadly promoted. Mothers´ ambivalence, negative feelings and work-family balance are almost totally absent. Other women’s social roles, namely the professional one, are rarely considered and father’s involvement is residual. In a country where the dual employment family model prevails, the gap between women’s expectations towards motherhood, social demands, and the real conditions for its implementation can bring difficulties for working mothers and would jeopardize their quality of life and emotional well-being.

Uncertainty is a central part of the fertility process. Individuals can be unsure about having children at all, about the number of desired or expected children, and about the timing of first or subsequent births. While there has been done a lot of research on the determinants of intentions and desires to have children, only few studies have explicitly dealt with uncertainty of fertility plans.

The aim of our paper is to extend the knowledge about the effects of life events and biographical insecurity on uncertainty in fertility intentions. Our expectations are theoretically based on Life Course Theory and the Theory of Planned Behaviour. First, we assume that separation from a partner increases uncertainty since behaviour control is decreased. Second, we expect an increase in uncertainty when individuals become unemployed, because this reduces financial security and thus behaviour control. Third, we hypothesize that the birth of the first child increases uncertainty regarding further births because parenting is a new experience and competes with other domains (work, hobbies) of the life course. According to all hypotheses we assume different effects for women and men.

We use data from waves 1-6 of the German Family Panel (pairfam) and apply fixed effects models and logistic regression. Our findings confirm that uncertainty in fertility intentions is of relevant prevalence in our sample and is not stable over the life course. In accordance with our hypotheses uncertainty is connected with changes in partnership, employment status, and parity of children. Furthermore, gender specific differences emerge.