Investigating the differences in women's employment across Europe, this text explores the possibilities and limits of structural change and development. The book seeks to develop a new framework for the investigation of the changing mosaic of employment, family lives, and gender relations.

1. The Decline of the Male Breadwinner: Explanations and Interpretations ; 2. Obligations and Autonomy in Social Welfare ; 3. Dual Breadwinners: Between State and Market ; 4. The Modernization of Family and Motherhood in Western Europe ; 5. Women, Men And Non-Standard Employment: Recent Developments in the Sexual Division of Breadwinning and Caregiving in Germany, Italy and the UK ; 6. Attitudes, Women's Employment and the Changing Domestic Division of Labour: A Cross-National Analysis ; 7. Employment, Careers and Families: The Significance of Choice and Constraint in Women's Lives ; 8. Gender, Occupational Feminisation and Reflexivity: A Cross-National Perspective ; 9. The Restructuring of Gender Relations Within the Medical Professions: Theoretical and Empirical Implications ; 10. Discussion and Conclusions