Married Women's Employment over the Life Course: Attitudes in Cross- National Perspective

Judith Treas, Eric D. Widmer
2000 Social Forces  
We analyze survey data from 23, largely industrialized countries onattitudes toward married women's employment atfour stages ofthefamily life course. Despite general consensus between countries, cluster andcorrespondence analyses show thatthe nations represent three distinct patterns of attitudes. There is only mixed support for the hypothesis thatpublic opinion conforms tostate welfare regime type. Instead, normative beliefs reflect both ageneral dimension ofstructural andcultural factors
more » ... itating female labor force participation and a life course dimension specific to maternal employment. Men and women largely agree, but gender differences affect cluster membership fora fewcountries. Systematic analysis of a large number of countries helps to testthelimits ofcomparative typologies and toidentify anomalous cases for closer study.
doi:10.2307/3006179 fatcat:x4oddwoaq5dtpnwcr4rlidt3yy