Work-family conflict refers to the stress and tension which arise when demands from work and family are competing and incompatible. The aim of this study was to examine the experience of work-family conflict among men and women in Sweden and Germany, and whether there was an association between work-family conflict and self-rated health. Special attention was paid to the directions of the conflict: work to family (WIF) and family to work (FIW). Moreover, the importance of gender attitudes and family policy was examined. By using cross-sectional data from the European Social Survey, the associations were analysed using regression analysis. The results showed that men in Germany experience the highest levels of work-family conflict and women in Germany the lowest. Having egalitarian gender attitudes was associated to slightly lower conflict among men only. Furthermore, high levels of work-family conflict were related to poorer self-rated health. Gender attitudes did not play a significant role in moderating this association. Altogether, the study demonstrated the importance of gender attitudes and family policy for individuals’ possibility to reconcile work and family. Hence, by facilitating for men and women to successfully combine the two domains, the risk of negative health consequences from work-family conflict may be reduced.

Magistro baigiamajame darbe išanalizuota ir įvertinta savivaldybėse bei seniūnijose teikiama socialinė parama šeimoms auginančioms nepilnamečius vaikus Lietuvoje, iškeltos valstybės teikiamos socialinės paramos administravimo problemos bei pateikti pasiūlymai, kaip spręsti iškilusias problemas. Teorinėje darbo dalyje yra aptariama šeimos politika, jos tipai bei šeimos samprata; analizuojami dokumentai reglamentuojantys socialinę paramą šeimai Lietuvoje bei institucijos atsakingos už paramos šeimai skyrimą; aptariamos šiuolaikinės viešojo valdymo reformos viešojo administravimo procese ir reformos modelio kūrimas. Praktinėje darbo dalyje yra nagrinėjamas socialinės paramos teikimas šeimoms auginančioms nepilnamečius vaikus Kupiškio ir Vilniaus savivaldybėse bei seniūnijose. Apibrėžiamos pagrindinės problemos teikiant socialinę paramą ir problemų sprendimų gairės. / Master thesis analyzed and evaluated an offer social support for the families rising minor children in municipalities and wards, warded state of social assistance provided of administrative problem and to make suggestions how to solve the problems. The family policy is discussed in the theoretical part of this work, the types and the concept of family; analyzed documents which are regulating social support for the family and institutions which are responsible for the support award for the Lithuania families. In the practical work part are considered social support for the families raising minor children of Kupiškis and Vilnius municipalities and wards. Are defined the main problems by providing social support ant the solutions guidelines of problems solving.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Syracuse University, 2007. / "Publication number: AAT 3295532."

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Canterbury, 2001. / Typescript (photocopy). Includes bibliographical references (leaves 139-146). Also available via the World Wide Web.

The thesis contains a description of the current situation in combining work and family. Principally, the work focuses on women with small children who are recipients of parental allowance or maternity pay and on the system of family support, in particular, the new three-speed systém of parentel allowance. It also addresses issues faced by mothers upon their re-entry on the labour market. The work´s aim was to establish the extent to which patente take advantage of the option to select the period for which they would benefit from parental allowance and the factors influencing their choice. In order to obtain the data required, women on maternity or parental leave and allowance specialists of the state social support department at the Labour Office in Beroun have been interviewed. Quantitative as well as qualitative research methods have been used. Mothers provided information in questionnaires filled in independently by respondents, semi-controlled interviews with individual specialists have been used to obtain information from the allowance specialists at the Labour Office. The finding that resulted from the work is that, out of the three possible alternatives, the three-year alternativ eis the most frequent choice and the two-year alternative is selected by the lowest number of women. The employability of women and the number of children they take care of are the most important criteria affecting thein choice. Low interest in the two-year-olds. Therefore, predominantly women planning another child in the upcoming period who will have to resolve the situation during their next parental leave opt for the two-year alternative. The influence of the mother´s education on the choice of an alternative has not been confirmed. In order to allow mothers with small children to make full use of the new three-speed system and to accomplish the desired effect, i.e. increase in female employment rates, I would recommend, first of all, regulating the ``nurseries`` in a new way, introducing part-time jobs and shared job positions. Without these measures, the new system cannot work efficiently.

Material welfare of families with children Abstract Material welfare of families with children is a topic which is encounter most of us in our life, whether in the position of a child or parent. Many families find themselves in a situation where they are virtually dependent on social security benefits. The objective of the thesis is to introduce the basic systems from which these benefits are provided. It is a social insurance system, state social support and social assistance. Furthermore, the thesis focuses on helping foster carers. My thesis is divided into several parts, each of them focuses on a particular area of social security of families with children. The first of these systems is social insurance, which is based on the insurance principle, a prerequisite for the entitlement is participate to insurance. Social insurance can be further subdivided into sickness and pension insurance. The second of the presented systems is state social support, which is aimed at helping families with dependent children. The benefits of this system are divided into two parts - tested and untested, depending on whether the entitlement to benefit is reliant on family income or not. The third system is social assistance, which is the representative of the so-called last social protection rescue network. It focuses...

The thesis deals with the sphere of a dual point of view to the importance of the child for the family. The first point of view considers the child to be a limiting factor (burden) and the second one to be a possible source of income (advantage). The thesis consists of theoretical and practical part. The aim of the thesis is to describe the current situation on the field of social (and family) policies in relation to families and to explicate, if their provisions can really affect, possibly to what degree, the attitude of the families to parenthood

M.A. (Sociology) / Over the past few decades, South African institutions have responded to a prevailing human rights discourse and pressures from the state and labour unions to put a range of key policies in place. Amongst these, family-friendly policies have gained acceptance and prominence. This study explores and analyses the use of family-friendly policies in a major South African bank and establishes reasons why bank staff do and do not make use of such policies, as well as the ways in which the available policies cater for their particular needs. The research probes the experiences of both male and female employees within this South African bank, the challenges that they face and the agency that they display in balancing their work and family lives by making use of the family-friendly policies within the institution. In-depth qualitative interviews and a documentary study of existing policy are the main methods of the study. The sample was comprised of 18 participants with children of 12 years and younger, two childless participants and one union representative. The final analysis reveals that, in general, the participants were reasonably content with the policies that the bank provides and viewed them as adequate. However, they were of the view that more benefits should be forthcoming and that there should be greater consistency in the application of policies. They also raised the inability of staff to discuss personal issues affecting their work efforts with management. Weber suggested that employees in large-scale bureaucracies accept the legal authority of the institution – its rules, functions and hierarchies. The bank as a bureaucracy does indeed frame employees’ social action; however, in present-day South Africa, policy, unlike being what Weber envisaged, is humanising and enabling, rather than constraining, and bank employees are able to exercise their autonomy to make policy work in their favour.

From 2007 up until now, Russia’s period fertility rate (TFR) increased at a relative constant pace. This increase coincided with the implementation and execution of pronatalist measures, mostnotably the maternity capital program. In this study, two distinct time periods (pre- and postpolicy) were compared in order to discover the effect of this program on fertility. This study is based on data from the Russian Generations and Gender Survey (GGS), conducted in 2011. Employing event-history analysis for the transition to a 2nd childbirth, this study assesses whether the maternity capital policy has had an impact on the interval between the 1st and 2nd birth and the overall 2nd birth risk. Moreover in this study I aimed to determine whether the 2nd birth risk was different according to woman’s educational level and ages at the time of 1st birth (entry into the 1st motherhood) in the policy period. The analysis pointed out that the transition to the 2nd birth event did not precipitate due to the introduction of maternity capital. Moreover my research indicated that the introduced policy did not increase the overall risk of having a 2nd child. The analysis of the interaction between the post-policy period and woman’s education or age at the 1st birth also did not reveal any significant difference.