Almudena Moreno Mínguez

This study investigates how living in single-parent families during childhood influences tertiary education attainment, exploring the mechanisms involved, their heterogeneity by parental socioeconomic status and their variation over time. Linear probability models based on data from the Spanish Survey on Living Conditions (ECV) 2019 and 2023 show that children who lived in single-parent families at age 14 —regardless of whether they have contact with the absent parent— are less likely to attain tertiary education. A significant part of this disadvantage is due to the lower availability of economic resources in single-parent families, especially for those where children grew up without contact with the absent parent. Moreover, the disadvantages are not homogeneous across different socioeconomic groups: the penalty associated with having lived in a single-parent family is higher for children whose parents have high socioeconomic status. However, the gradient of this penalty has changed between generations: in Generation X, it mainly affected children whose parents have moderate socioeconomic status; in contrast, in Millennials, it is concentrated among children whose parents have high socioeconomic status, especially in single-parent families with parental contact.

The purpose of this article is to examine the role of social spending policies in reducing child deprivation and inequality between family structures. In particular, based on the idea that the redistributive effects of such policies affect economic well-being in childhood, we analyse whether three functions of social spending (family/children, housing/social exclusion and sickness/disability) are associated with the reduction of different types of child deprivation (nutrition, clothing, education, leisure and social life) in Europe. We employ multilevel techniques for this purpose. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that greater social spending on sickness/disability benefits can reduce the risk of child deprivation, particularly for single-parent families, although we cannot exclude the possibility that this association is spurious. Family/children benefits and housing/social exclusion benefits seem to have a somewhat more limited effect but still contribute to reducing inequalities between single-parent and two-parent families in some types of deprivation.

Múltiples artículos concluyen que los hijos/as perciben el modo de crianza del padre diferente al de la madre. El objetivo de este artículo es conocer si el género y la situación laboral son variables que condicionan las relaciones afectivas y el control paterno/ materno filial. De acuerdo con una metodología cualitativa/estructural, se realizaron tres grupos de discusión, participando en cada uno de ellos cuatro niños y cuatro niñas entre 12 y 14 años. Analizando la materia prima discursiva se concluye que no hay diferencias entre los padres que tienen un empleo público, independientemente de su cualificación/formación. Las diferencias tienen lugar entre los padres cuyos empleos se adscriben al sector privado y su cualificación/formación es escasa. Entre ellos se da una panoplia de situaciones. Si bien, todos los padres son afectuosos. Cuestionándose, por tanto, el paradigma tradicional que asigna a la madre la dimensión afectuosa y al padre el control y la responsabilidad de establecer las normas y castigos.

Encuesta realizado por el CIS con el título Biografías de Emancipación, Generaciones y Cambio Social en España. Este módulo se diseñó para recoger información retrospectiva con el objetivo de estudiar las trayectorias vitales en la juventud, a partir de las generaciones de hombres y de mujeres de 18 y más años de edad, poniendo un especial interés en el proceso de emancipación. Todo ello, en un contexto de limitados datos generacionales sobre la juventud y sobre sus procesos de emancipación. La emancipación ha sido considerada en este estudio como una suma de procesos que implican distintas dimensiones, entre las que la salida o salidas del hogar parental son un evento más dentro de una «trayectoria» compleja. Los resultados obtenidos confirman evidencias empíricas encontradas en otros estudios y dan cuenta de aspectos también novedosos. El estudio cubre, además, un amplio rango de generaciones, muy diferentes entre sí, que han protagonizado cambios sociales profundos en sus trayectorias hacia la vida adulta. Ello nos sitúa en un contexto novedoso desde el que retomar el debate sobre la emancipación en España. Cabe destacar que los cambios más importantes se concentran entre las generaciones nacidas hasta 1959 y las nacidas después. Las transiciones juveniles de las generaciones más recientes muestran una clara tendencia hacia una mayor complejización, con una mayor presencia de recorridos no lineales y reversibles. Al mismo tiempo, hemos encontrado evidencias de que las trayectorias de las generaciones más mayores no eran tan lineales como estudios precedentes han sugerido. Este trabajo también aporta evidencias sólidas de que son las mujeres las que han protagonizado los cambios más notables. Entre ellas, los cambios sucedidos entre las generaciones de más edad y las más jóvenes son de mucho mayor calado que entre los hombres

The aim of this article is to present empirical evidence on the use of parental leave by fathers under the Mediterranean Welfare State, as a Spanish tribute to the legacy of Dr Rush in politics of fatherhood in a comparative perspective. We will focus on the Spanish case to analyze the use of paternity leave by fathers for the period 2001–2017. We consider the family unit – as a setting for bargaining and socialization – from a longitudinal perspective. The paper presents a very valuable and in-depth analysis of socio-demographic factors influencing the family decision to take parental leave by fathers (age, education, employment status, socio-economics). Based on the literature reviewed, we consider that these factors have a greater impact on how parental leave is used differently and how it has evolved over time. The case of Spain is interesting for the research because it represents a political and social model that combines a recent institutional commitment to the work/life balance through the extension of paternity leave for fathers with a male breadwinner family model still in transition.

Objective: This article introduces the reader to the Special Issue "Labour markets, families and public policies shaping gender relations and parenting" and gives a theoretical and empirical overview of gender roles and gender equality in Europe. Background: This Special Issue analyses the connection between labour markets, families, social policy, and gender relations in several European countries. Method: The six included articles are based on qualitative and quantitative approaches and data that have been gathered in Finland, Norway, Poland, Spain, and across the entire EU. Results: Key findings are: (1) In less egalitarian countries, children of single parents suffer more nutritional, educational and social life deprivation. (2) The institutional design of parental leave can contribute to reproducing gender inequality in the use of leave. (3) The institutional design interacts with cultural norms in shaping fatherhood practices of migrant fathers. (4) Individualised, performance-based wage and career schemes can counteract the effects of gender-equalising family policies. (5) Fathers taking leave independently from the mother and for an extended period are more involved in childcare beyond the leave period, and (6) the use of longer unpaid parental leave by mothers leads to a more unequal distribution of childcare between the parents. Conclusion: This Special Issue highlights that even in the most egalitarian countries, there remain persistent challenges to achieving gender equality regarding labour market, institutions and family life.

Objective: The aim of this article is to extend our knowledge about child deprivation in single-parent families from a comparative European perspective. We first analyse the relationship between the employment status of single parents and child deprivation. Furthermore, we examine whether gender equality in the labour market and family cash benefits reduce deprivation and alleviate the consequences of unemployment and employment precariousness. Background: Children from single-parent families suffer deprivation mainly due to their parents' job insecurity and the fact that, in general, there is only one breadwinner in their households, usually a woman. However, the situation of these children may differ between European countries according to gender equality and family policies. Method: We use cross-sectional data from the European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions 2014 and multilevel logistic regressions. The analysis is based on a sample of single-parent households (N = 5910) from 28 European countries. Results: The results indicate that temporary employment and unemployment are associated with a greater risk of child deprivation in single-parent families. The results also show that gender equality in the labour market reduces child deprivation, especially in families where the parent has a temporary employment. Redistributive family policies have a more limited impact. Conclusion: The main findings indicate that advances in gender equality in the labour market are essential to combat child deprivation in single-parent families in Europe.

En este artículo se da cuenta del papel del padre en las tareas domésticas y en la crianza, atención y cuidados de sus hijos e hijas de acuerdo con el análisis de los discursos de los niños y niñas. Conforme a una muestra estructural se realizaron tres grupos de discusión y dos entrevistas abiertas a niños y niñas de entre 12 y 14 años residentes en la Comunidad de Madrid. La conclusión más relevante es que el lugar que se tiene en la estructura sociolaboral incide sustancialmente en esta cuestión, si bien, este condicionamiento se encuentra mediatizado por el género: en todos los casos, incluso en las familias más igualitarias, las mujeres asumen más responsabilidades y tareas. Este estudio, tanto por el procedimiento empleado como por los aportes suministrados, constituye una novedosa contribución al corpus teórico y metodológico de los estudios sobre la infancia y la nueva paternidad.

This work examines whether the increase of single parenthood in Italy and Spain, specifically amongst women in an unfavourable socioeconomic position, has repercussions for child well-being, understood here as material deprivation. In particular, our main objective is to analyse the possible differential impact of single parenthood on children’s material deprivation in relation to mothers’ level of education. Using the 2014 EU-SILC Module on material deprivation, we identify five areas of child deprivation based on the EU-MODA approach: nutrition, clothing, education, leisure, and social life. In the case of Italy, our main results indicate that, compared to children from two-parent households, children of single mothers with a low level of education have a higher risk of nutrition and clothing deprivation. In Spain, living in a single-parent household is associated with a higher risk of deprivation in terms of social life for those children whose mothers do not have a high level of education. Therefore, the findings suggest that in both countries the growth of single parenthood amongst women with a lower educational level may have an impact on child well-being inequality. This article contributes empirical data to the growing literature on the rise of child poverty in Southern European countries.