Negotiating the Life Course: Stability and Change in Life Pathways
Edited by Ann Evans and Janeen Baxter
Published 2013
Pathways through the life course have changed considerably in recent decades. Many of our assumptions about leaving home, starting new relationships and having children have been turned upside down. It is now almost as common to have children prior to marriage as afterwards, and certainly much more common to live together before marrying than to marry without first living together. Women are more likely to remain in the labour force after having children and many families struggle with problems of work-family balance at some stage in their lives, particularly when they have young children. But how much has really changed? Is there really more diversity in how individuals transition through these life course stages, or just variations at the margin with most people following a standard work and family life course? This volume makes use of rich longitudinal data from a unique Australian project to examine these issues.
Overall the chapters in this volume chart both change and stability in employment, family and relationship experiences for Australian men and women over the last 40 years or so. The analyses place Australia in line with most of Western Europe and the United States of America with regard to the timing and sequencing of major demographic events. Relationship formation and fertility have been well and truly delayed so that young people can engage with education that will equip them with the skills to compete in a modern globalized workforce. Where Australia differs to other regions is in the wide use of part-time work. Part-time work is used across all stages of the life course. For the young it is used alongside education and for mothers it is used to negotiate their work-life balance. The impact of part-time work has also been shown to be different across the life course with a benefit to young people in terms of income and skills, while the future career opportunities and income of women caring for children can be negatively affected by part-time work. What is surprising is that although many aspects of the life course have changed markedly over time, with more diversity in pathways, new stages added, changes in the timing of relationships and parenthood, and changes in patterns of participation in higher education and the labour market, the gender division of labour has remained remarkably resilient. This is undoubtedly due, in part, to the institutional constraints placed on individual choices and strategies about how best to manage paid and unpaid work over the life course. Drawing on broader theories of social change and demographic transitions in an international context, each chapter provides a detailed empirical assessment of the ways in which Australian adults negotiate their work and family lives. In doing so, the volume provides important insight into the ways in which recent demographic, social and economic changes both challenge and reproduce gender divisions.
Dr Ann Evans is a Fellow with ADSRI and Associate Dean (Research Training), College of Arts and Social Science, Australian National University.
Professor Janeen Baxter is ARC Professorial Fellow, Sociology, Institute for Social Science Research, University of Queensland.
Negotiating the Life Course: Stability and Change in Life Pathways is available from Springer.