Gendered work–family balance in Spain from a European comparative perspective

This article presents a comparative analysis of work–family balance (WFB) arrangements in Spain by gender within the comparative framework of family policies enacted by the different welfare regimes in Europe. The article is based on the premise that there is a confluence of factors in Spain – such as its historical legacy and the familism embedded in the cultural framework and lack of family policies, which has contributed to producing a model of unequal gender relations in WFB. In order to test this hypothesis, we carried out a descriptive comparative analysis of family policies (childcare services and parental leave) as well as two statistical cluster analyses using data from module 5 of the 2005 European Labour Force Survey (ELFS) and the 2008 Eurobarometer (EB) in order to analyse the work–family arrangements and dilemmas by a group of European countries. The main finding derived from this empirical data is that different models of family policies prevailing in different countries have had unequal effects on WFB by gender. In particular in the Spanish case, the lack of public policies addressing WFB and family culture has reinforced the role of the mother and family as the main caregivers.