Economic History: Family and Work - Scandinavia in an International Perspective

This course examines demographic and labour market trends together with policies relating to work and family life, focusing on the Scandinavian experience in international perspective. During the twentieth century, the relationship between work and family changed fundamentally in most industrialized countries.

The movement of women, especially mothers, into the labour market not only impacted the economy and the labour market but also families as they were. The Scandinavian countries have been forerunners in the transition to new family forms and combinations of work and family, which has changed the lives of men, women, and children. These changes, i.e. dual-earner families, cohabitation, divorce, out-of-wedlock childbearing, new divisions of labour, and involved fatherhood, are now under way in most other Western countries as well.

This course provides an overview and analysis of the long term development of men’s and women’s work, careers, education and their interactions with family life. By a combination of theory and empirical illustrations students will be given a comprehensive overview of a silent revolution and gain understanding of factors shaping working life and family life in contemporary Scandinavia. It deals with fundamental issues regarding union formation, childbearing, gender equality, time-use, labour force participation and earnings. The course also deals with policies relating to work and family issues, their efficiency and effectiveness, and to what extent other contexts may learn from the Scandinavian experience.