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In Brazil, nasal irrigation is a common procedure for children hospitalized with respiratory conditions. However, it often causes stress for both the child and their family. Nurses need to rethink their approach to care, and the use of therapeutic play can be an ally in transforming the stressful context. To understand the family perceptions of nasal irrigation in hospitalized children after an educational intervention mediated by instructional therapeutic play (ITP). This descriptive, exploratory, and qualitative study was conducted from the perspective of Herbert Blumer's Symbolic Interactionism in a hospital in São Paulo, Brazil. The study included family members of hospitalized children aged 3–6 years who participated in an ITP intervention and remained for 6 hours afterward. Participants self-reported literacy with preserved cognition and verbal communication. This study was conducted between March 2023 and January 2024 using semi-structured interviews with 38 family members. Data were analyzed using Bardin's thematic content and lexical analysis with IRAMUTEQ® software. The interaction of families with ITP for nasal irrigation in children led to a redefinition of the procedure from distressing to enjoyable. ITP was evaluated as an essential and stimulating method that familiarized the child with the procedure, facilitating the understanding process for both the child and the family. ITP is a caregiving technology that nurses can use to assist with nasal irrigation, re-signifying the experiences of children and their families during the procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At a time when national discourse in the USA centers the need for professionalization, regulation, and surveillance, this article emphasizes the ways in which neoliberal logics harm those working in early childhood education in the USA. While stakeholders at every level debate proposed solutions to the early childhood education crisis, largely related to furthering regulation, this article brings forward the voices of those doing the work and rejects the idea that neoliberal logics will lead us collectively away from a situation that they created. Guided by the tenets of critical qualitative inquiry, I use narrative inquiry to explore the stories of early childhood educators working in an underfunded, undervalued field. In this article, I highlight two resonant themes that spanned the participants' narratives, which are related to the impacts of scarcity and surveillance in early childhood education spaces. Based on my findings, I make the claim that early childhood education professionals are strained by increased regulation and surveillance amidst an already toxic prevalence of scarcity of various forms, and that shifts to further regulate the field should consider the voices of the people working in these spaces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 and the associated government lockdowns in the UK had dramatic impacts on the UK's creative industries. This article explores these impacts on mothers working in UK Television (UKTV), on their ability to work, finances, and mental health. It is based on the largest survey ever conducted of this group. It is argued that the COVID-19 crisis revealed and compounded the long-standing incompatibility between gendered, unpaid care work and the intensity of working patterns in UKTV. This had disastrous effects on mothers attempting to remain within television labour markets whilst also shouldering the overwhelming majority of the burden of additional childcare, with potential long-term effects on gendered labour market outcomes and the diversity of the UK's creative industry workforce. Finally, the article explores Working From Home (WFH) as one possible solution to the problem of combining unpaid care work with the intense working patterns associated with TV work. It finds that, while an important tool through which mothers can manage care work alongside television work, WFH needs to be approached with caution as a policy and practice solution to continued gender inequality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates neighborhood-based predictors of attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) in a universal ECEC system. We used child-specific data (N = 1409) from a parent survey conducted in 2019 in Finland combined with zip code data to examine the extent to which neighborhood urbanicity and socioeconomic status (SES) are associated with attendance of ECEC at the age of four. Using binomial logistic regression, we investigated attendance of formal ECEC services in general and center-based ECEC in particular. The results show that neighborhood urbanicity was associated with attendance of ECEC even when family-based variables were controlled. Neighborhood SES was associated with attendance of ECEC only when center-based ECEC was examined in particular. The results highlight the importance of recognizing local barriers to attending different kinds of ECEC services beyond family characteristics, including in universal ECEC systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic may have affected the mental health of pregnant and postpartum women, influencing the duration of exclusive breastfeeding and the child's neuropsychomotor development. Research aim: To evaluate the influence of COVID-19 on the mental health of postpartum women, on the protein and antioxidant profile of breast milk, on the duration of exclusive breastfeeding and on the neuropsychomotor development of their infants. Methods: Observational study, prospective cohort, with 180 postpartum women. Psychosocial status was assessed by changes in mood and lifestyle; trait and state anxiety, and postpartum depression. Breastfeeding time and neuropsychomotor development were determined at the three-month well-child consultation based on the child's health record and the WHO Anthro software. 5 ml of mature breast milk were collected from the full breast of the lactating women. Results: There was no difference between the prevalence of anxious traits and states and postpartum depression among seropositive and negative postpartum women for COVID-19. There was no difference in the prevalence of time and type of breastfeeding, and of normal and delayed neuropsychomotor development between seropositive and negative postpartum women for COVID-19. The fact that the baby smiles and raises and keeps his head elevated were associated with lower chances of an anxious state among postpartum women (OR: 0.23; OR: 0.28 and OR: 0.20, respectively). Conclusions: The need for more studies to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on the mental health of postpartum women, breastfeeding and the neuropsychomotor development of babies is highlighted, given the importance of breast milk for the growth and development of babies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Expulsion is the harshest form of disciplinary action, and behavior policies are the foundation for this decision-making process. The purpose of this study is to uncover how behavior policies used in early childhood settings describe expulsion practices. Among the 111 early childhood programs in Western Massachusetts that met the search criteria for this study, only 31 programs posted their behavior policies online. Twenty four of the 31 programs contained sections on expulsion and suspension in their behavioral policies. Data from the expulsion and suspension section of behavioral policies from 24 preschool and childcare programs were analyzed using content analysis. Themes related to child (e.g., child-behavior), program (e.g., goodness of fit), and family (e.g., communication) were found. The behavioral policies lacked detailed information about the expulsion process, which allows for the misuse of expulsion as a form of behavior management. Based on the results, implications for future research and practice on early childhood expulsion are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Burnout is an increasing concern among working professionals; however, relatively little research has examined burnout among those in the childcare field. This is a major gap, given high demand for childcare services in the United States coupled with high rates of turnover in the field. Between February 2019 and January 2020, 320 home- and center-based childcare professionals completed an online survey about their experiences, which included the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI) and questions about perceptions of child behaviors. Organizational/administrative challenges emerged as a significant predictor of burnout. Burnout was significantly related to childcare professionals' perceptions of how difficult it was to effectively respond to relatively common challenging child behaviors. Results underscore the importance of enhanced supports for childcare professionals at risk of burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Il a été décrit dans la littérature que les difficultés psychoaffectives rencontrées par les enfants d'âge préscolaire dont la naissance suit une grossesse sans enfant, pourraient être davantage liées à un dysfonctionnement relationnel au sein de la famille porteuse de cette cicatrice affective qu'à une altération intrinsèque des capacités cognitives de l'enfant. Ces représentations prénatales distordues peuvent s'exprimer dès la naissance et le postnatal immédiat. Proposer une intervention de soutien précoce de la rencontre avec ce nouveau bébé pourrait se révéler bénéfique sur l'établissement d'une dynamique parentale équilibrée et la santé psychique de l'enfant par la suite. Nous avons utilisé la passation du test de Brazelton chez trois dyades avec un antécédent de perte périnatale lors de la grossesse précédente, dans l'objectif de mettre en évidence aux yeux des parents l'individualité et des compétences de leur nouveau-né. Nous avons observé de manière qualitative l'attitude parentale durant cette intervention afin d'en estimer le bénéfice thérapeutique immédiat pouvant en découler. Cette étude met en lumière l'intérêt d'une prise en charge postnatale précoce de ces dyades avec une attention portée sur les enjeux d'accompagnement soignant à la découverte individuée de l'enfant par ses parents, étayé par des éléments psychoaffectifs de puériculture. Cependant, la pertinence spécifique de l'outil de Brazelton dans cette indication reste à discuter, dû à son caractère limité par l'absence d'indications précises, l'absence d'équivalent reproductible ultérieurement dans la vie du bébé, ainsi que l'absence de résultat communicable aux parents qui par conséquent n'y portent pas systématiquement le sens que les soignants y confèrent. Il apparaît ainsi que le soutien centré sur l'observation du bébé est d'un bénéfice indéniable dans les schémas relationnels de ses familles, mais que les modalités d'un tel soutien restent à définir et explorer. Previous studies have shown that children whose births occur after a childless pregnancy tend to be more prone to psychological and affective disorders, with a moderate and nonspecific degree of significance. These pathologies are most often described as a consequence of altered family dynamics rather than an actual impairment of the child's cognitive pathways. Such alterations in familial balance, when occurring in the traumatic shadow of a childless pregnancy be it from spontaneous miscarriage, stillbirth or voluntary termination due to foetal abnormalities, often take root in the prenatal period due to anticipatory representations and thoughts and can express themselves as early as the first days of the newborn's life ex utero. We used the standardized Brazelton assessment scale to observe three such newborns in the presence of their parents and paid particular attention to the parents' reactions and attitudes to the child's behavior and the impact our explanations had on their understanding of the newborn's response. This study highlights the value of early postnatal care of these dyads with a focus on the issues of caring for the individual discovery of the child by his parents, supported by psychoaffective elements of childcare. However, the specific relevance of the Brazelton's tool in this indication remains to be discussed due to its limited nature by the absence of precise indications, the absence of a reproducible equivalent later in the baby's life, as well as the absence of a result that can be communicated to parents who therefore do not systematically carry the meaning that the caregivers confer on it. The study asserts the fundamental benefit of an early child-based intervention in these families to facilitate genuine bonding and secure attachment, but the nature of such an intervention is yet to be determined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared physical custody (SPC) is a care arrangement following parental separation, whereby children alternatively reside with their mother and father. Very little is known about how family policies accommodate SPC, which is all the more unfortunate, as it represents a key opportunity to understand how family policies can efficiently facilitate shared parenting. To address this gap, this article presents a modest attempt at designing a new comparative family policy approach that considers SPC arrangements, by examining the extent to which Belgian, French and Italian family policies accommodate a more equal sharing of parenting post-divorce. In so doing, we encourage studies of defamilialization to take better account of the diversity of contemporary family forms. The theoretical section traces back key feminist debates around defamilialization and proposes to consider SPC arrangements as an 'atypical' family configuration that best illustrates contemporary tensions around defamilialization and gender equality. It also takes stock of the few studies of family policy and SPC to highlight key issues at stake. The analysis section starts with the main characteristics of the family law, welfare regime and family policies of the three countries. Then, we examine a selection of emblematic and national-level family policies from the following areas: (1) Family benefits; (2) Financial support to access to services; and (3) Tax measures. Our comparison focuses on three main criteria: scope; entitlement; and shareability of benefits between parents in the context of SPC. Our analysis reveals the variety of approaches to SPC in family polices across countries and policy areas, and the significant lack of support for a more equitable distribution of parenting within SPC. We conclude by highlighting the usefulness of taking SPC into account in reflecting on and evaluating the implementation of defamilialization policies, and by identifying some of the challenges to be met by future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childcare services such as preschools and long day care centres have been identified as a key setting to promote physical activity in early childhood as they provide access to large numbers of children for prolonged periods. Yet, specific standards for the type and amount of physical activity (PA) children accumulate whilst attending childcare are lacking. The purpose of this study was to derive population-referenced percentile values for children's total movement and energetic play whilst attending early childhood education and care services. We analysed accelerometer data collected in four Australian studies involving over 150 long day care services and 3893 accelerometer records from 1945 children to derive population-referenced percentile values for total movement and energetic play whilst attending formal early childhood education and care. Accelerometer data were processed into time spent in total movement and energetic play using a random forest physical activity classification model. Total movement and energetic play estimates were transformed to a standard normal distribution and percentiles were calculated for a 4-, 6-, 8-, and 10-hour early childhood education and care day. On an average 8-hour early childhood education and care day (50th percentile), Australian pre-schoolers spend between 269 and 292 min, or 60 % of their day in movement. In contrast, Australian pre-schoolers only accumulate between 15 and 29 min of energetic play. The percentile reference values can be used to monitor young children's physical activity and energetic play levels whilst attending childcare. Educators can use the percentiles to assign norm-referenced ratings to identify children who could benefit from additional support for physical activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background We aim to discover which, if any, of the subscales of internalizing and externalizing behavioral problems at age 3 are still associated with screen time (ST) at age 2 after adjusting for behavioral problems scores at age 2. Methods This study was conducted under the Tohoku Medical Megabank Project Birth and Three-Generation Cohort Study. Information was gathered prospectively, with 7207 mother–child pairs included in the analysis. Children's ST was categorized in hours a day at age 2 (<1, 1-<2, 2-<4, ≥4). We assessed children's behavioral problems using the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 1½–5 (CBCL) at ages 2 and 3. 'Having behavioral problems' was defined by them being within a clinical range for internalizing behaviors (withdrawn, somatic complaints, anxious/depressed and emotionally reactive) and externalizing behaviors (attention problems and aggressive behaviors) at age 3. Continuous scores on each of the behavioral problem scales at age 2 were used as covariates. Results Greater ST for children at age 2 was associated with specific subscales for emotionally reactive and aggressive behaviors at age 3. Conclusions This study found that ST is prospectively associated with some behavioral scales but not others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How much do parents spend on children in the U.S.? While the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) regularly addresses this question, it considers only money expenditures, omitting the sizeable monetary value of parental time. The 2017 and 2019 Panel Study of Income Dynamics offers a unique opportunity to provide a more complete picture. Analysis of this data reveals considerable substitutability between unpaid and paid childcare and generates estimates of average total expenditures that include a replacement cost estimate of the value of parental time. These estimates, constructed for comparability with USDA measures, reveal both higher levels of average parental expenditure and different patterns across household structure and income. These findings challenge public policies that use USDA estimates as a reference point for setting the child support obligations of non‐custodial parents and reimbursement rates for foster care. They also undermine many conventional equivalence scales and measures of income/time poverty. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In spring 2020, stay at home orders due to the COVID-19 pandemic forced many Americans to work remotely. Simultaneously, these orders shut down schools and daycare centers, leading to anecdotal reports of large increases in multitasking. Specifically, remote workers were engaging in more secondary childcare, which, unlike primary childcare, is linked to negative effects on well-being. Using American Time Use Survey (ATUS) data for the years 2003–2021, we find that remote workers spend more time on secondary childcare than office workers and that remote work exacerbates documented father/mother differences in time spent on secondary childcare. In addition, we find evidence that self-selection into remote work creates sample selection bias, as coefficient magnitudes are reduced when selection into remote work is accounted for via an endogenous treatment model. Finally, we examine the effects of an exogenous shock, the COVID-19 pandemic, on hours spent on secondary childcare via a triple difference model. Again, our results indicate that remote work exacerbates documented father/mother differences in time spent on secondary childcare, likely decreasing mothers' well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maternal self‐efficacy during infancy is shaped by many factors, including maternal mental health and social support. This study examines how depression, emotional support, and childcare support relate to maternal self‐efficacy among mothers of infants in rural Pakistan. Participants included 885 mothers assessed at 3 and 6 months postpartum. At 3 months postpartum, mothers completed interview measures of depression, emotional social support, support with day‐to‐day childcare tasks (daily childcare support), and childcare support when they were unable to care for their child (childcare support when needed). At 6 months postpartum, participants reported on maternal self‐efficacy. Generalized estimating equations were used to test the associations between depression and social support at 3 months and maternal self‐efficacy at 6 months, as well as the interaction between depression and social support. Depression at 3 months was not associated with maternal self‐efficacy at 6 months when controlling for depression at 6 months. Emotional support was associated with increased self‐efficacy, but daily childcare support was not. We found weak evidence that childcare support when needed was associated with increased self‐efficacy only among mothers with depression. Results suggest that emotional support and childcare support when needed may be helpful for promoting mothers’ self‐efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Profiling the German case, we examine stability and change in shared physical custody (SPC) compared to sole custody (SC) and its correlates. Changing legal and cultural conditions led to a higher rate of separated parents sharing childcare. Because most prior studies relied on cross-sectional data or analyses, there is only sparse information on the stability of care arrangements in Europe more generally and in Germany specifically. Drawing on the representative panel ‘Growing up in Germany’ collected in 2019 and 2021, our analyses were based on parents’ reports on 558 minors in post-separation families. Employing multinomial logit models, we regressed a categorical change score indicating fluctuations in care arrangements on a variety of measures, including socio-demographic and separation-specific indicators. The share of children in both SPC and SC was highly stable. A shorter distance between parental homes and higher parental education was linked to stable SPC arrangements. Fewer interparental conflicts, but also more coparenting problems at baseline, were associated with a higher chance to switch to arrangements with increasing shared care, whereas parental employment at baseline was linked to decreasing care. Results are further discussed in light of the timing of data collection during the COVID-19 pandemic and potential underlying mechanisms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveMethodsResultsConclusionWomen have always played a crucial role in agriculture through their work on the farm, caring for the family and the household, and off-farm employment. Yet, like their essential contributions to agriculture, their mental health and well-being have largely been invisible since much of the focus of the mental health in agriculture research has been on older, male farmers. This paper seeks to address this knowledge gap by focusing on the emotional consequences stemming from the expectations of juggling childcare responsibilities, farm work and managing the household whilst keeping children safe.The data were collected via focus groups and photovoice activity with, respectively, 68 and 33 farm women from Ohio, Wisconsin, and Vermont.The content thematic analysis first indicates that the juggling of multiple roles along with limited support deeply impacted farm women’s wellbeing. Worries that the children could get hurt was a major source of stress. Stress and mental health issues connected to children do not lessen as they age but rather shift and become more complex.This article highlights the implications of the lack of investment in farm women’s mental wellbeing and their lived realities of caring for children on the farm. Future research should address supply chain and affordability issues, particularly for rural childcare provision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shared site intergenerational care programs (SSICPs) integrate care services for old and young generations in co-located contexts. A common form combines residential aged care and childcare services within a single site that is home to older adults and contains a childcare center. At present, SSICPs are under-researched and under-developed. Consequently, the aim of this scoping review is to review evidence on this type of SSICP, informing their future development. Nine articles met the inclusion criteria, and were analyzed with narrative synthesis and tabulation. Findings reveal benefits plus practices and principles underlying the establishment of SSICPs. While more research is needed to confirm outcomes and best practice, and examine possibilities beyond developed countries, this review demonstrates the potential of SSICPs as a viable model of care for older people and young children, and provides guidelines toward their development and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Physical activity and sedentary time are independently associated with health and developmental outcomes in preschool children. However, the integrated nature of these behaviours on early life outcomes, particularly during childcare hours, is currently understudied. As such, the aim of this study was to examine the association between preschool children's physical activity and sedentary time during childcare and various developmental outcomes (psychosocial, cognitive and fundamental movement skills). Methods: A total of 107 preschool children (Mage: 41 ± 6 months) recruited from London, Canada, wore ActiGraph wGT3X‐BT accelerometers during childcare hours to measure their sedentary time, light intensity physical activity (LPA) and moderate‐to‐vigorous intensity physical activity (MVPA). Developmental outcomes, including psychosocial health (internalising, externalising, prosocial behaviour), indicators of cognitive development (memory, inhibitory control) and fundamental movement skills (locomotor control, object control, total fundamental movement), were assessed using validated tools. Compositional regression and isotemporal substitution models were estimated to examine how movement compositions in childcare were associated with developmental outcomes. Results: Engaging in more MVPA relative to LPA and sedentary time was associated with fewer internalising symptoms and better total fundamental movement skills and object control skills, whilst spending more time in LPA relative to MVPA and sedentary time was associated with more internalising symptoms and worse object control skills. Isotemporal substitution models suggested that theoretically increasing sedentary time or engaging in MVPA at the expense of time engaging in LPA during childcare is associated with lower internalising symptoms. Conclusion: The findings of this study provide preliminary evidence that engaging in MVPA during childcare, at the expense of time in LPA or sedentary time, is associated with children's fundamental movement skills and psychosocial development. Further longitudinal research is required, with larger samples of young children, to assess the mechanisms through which childcare movement behaviour compositions may interact with developmental outcomes, including contextualising both sedentary time and LPA. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05359536 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Effects of attending early childhood education and care (ECEC) on health behaviours of young children remain unclear. This study aimed to investigate whether ECEC attendance was associated with outdoor play, screen time, sleep duration and family demographics of children aged 2 and 3 years. Methods: Secondary analysis was conducted using data extracted from two linked trials conducted in Australia, 2017–2020. Telephone surveys were conducted with participating mothers for data collection. Multiple logistic and linear regression models were built to investigate the associations of ECEC attendance with outdoor play, screen time, sleep duration and family demographics among young children. Results: At ages 2 and 3 years, 797 and 537 mothers completed surveys, respectively. Of respondents, 65% and 72% of children attended ECEC, respectively. Children who attended ECEC had 17 min (95% CI 3.8–30.5) and 28 min (95% CI 14.1–41.9) more daily outdoor playtime and had 13 min (95% CI 4.0–21.5) and 19 min (95% CI 6.4–30.7) less daily screen time at home at 2 and 3 years, respectively. Although ECEC attendance was not associated with sleep duration, children who attended ECEC were more likely to meet all three recommendations (outdoor play, screen time and sleep) with adjusted odds ratio (AOR) 1.84 (95% CI 1.24–2.72) at age 2 and AOR 2.34 (95% CI 1.28–4.28) at age 3. Mothers who were employed, first‐time mothers, spoke English at home or had a high household income were more likely to use ECEC services. Conclusions: ECEC services may hold promise to influence outdoor play and screen time among young children. Children from lower socio‐demographic background had a lower rate of ECEC attendance. Future health promotion programmes for young children need to also consider children who do not attend ECEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing qualitative research in higher education on students' work and family commitments already suggests that time as a resource for college is likely not distributed equitably by race/ethnicity or gender. However, the relationship between race/ethnicity, gender, and time as a resource for college has yet to be quantitatively measured in large-scale higher education research. This study explored whether gender or race/ethnicity correlated with differences in time as a resource for college; and further, the extent to which differences in time as a resource for college may be explained by other factors such as age, number of children, and access to childcare. Retrospective survey responses (n = 41,579) on self-reported time use were merged with institutional data records from students at the City University of New York (CUNY), a large diverse public university in the U.S. Women, Black, and Hispanic students were all significantly more time poor than male, White, or Asian students. Age accounted for significant portions of these differences, perhaps because it correlates with increased work and family responsibilities. Having children as well as a student's access to childcare also explained a significant portion of inequitable distributions of time as a resource for college. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study attempts to determine whether the increasing need for parental assistance with schooling and the improved options for this owing to remote work had an impact on fathers' involvement in childcare, children's education and housework during the COVID‐19 lockdown. We make use of information from a May 2020 online poll of 1359 Russian mothers. Using binary logistic regression, we examine the links between fathers' work schedules, the need for additional school support for children and an increase in father involvement. We compare father involvement in children's education and childcare before and during the lockdown. Our findings partially corroborate the 'needs exposure' theory, which holds that greater awareness of family needs can boost fathers' engagement. Furthermore, they emphasize that, given the high likelihood of upcoming pandemics and other crises affecting family life, considerable steps should be taken to promote gender equality in the family and the workplace. Such actions might be advantageous for the health of both parents and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the COVID‐19 pandemic, the United States government promoted the idea of care as infrastructure to justify government spending on nonphysical infrastructures. In this article, we demonstrate the usefulness of adopting an infrastructure framework for researching care and caring through an analysis of working mothers' communication on Reddit in the early days of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Employing infrastructural inversion as a heuristic, we conceptualize the childcare crisis experienced by working mothers in many Western societies as an infrastructural disruption in which the cascading failure of childcare infrastructures exposed the background work of care as well as its vulnerability and invisibility. We also argue that, against this backdrop, an alternate infrastructure of digital caring emerged. However, this informal infrastructure was inadequate to sustain the needs of working mothers, and its emergence, in itself, provides proof of the need to value care as infrastructure. Ultimately, we showcase how conceptualizing care as infrastructure can enrich feminist theorization of care, and that centering care as infrastructure redresses the bias toward physical infrastructure in the scholarly literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Postnatal experience is one of the most under-researched areas within medical sociology and anthropology scholarship in India. Using a qualitative lens, this study examines the postnatal experiences of a particular class of working mothers in Bengaluru, one of India's fastest-growing cities. Through in-depth interviews, the study demonstrates that the postnatal experience of working mothers is layered with social and cultural factors. The findings also revealed that after the delivery, the child is prioritised over the mother, who hardly receives any mental support from her spouse, family members or external network ties. Additionally, these working mothers are often criticised for neglecting motherhood responsibilities and instead focusing on their careers. Expanding the scholarship on postnatal experience, this article highlights the mental agonies and issues faced by working mothers in urban India, as well as in privileged classes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ideal worker is represented as constantly available for work. However, an increasing number and variety of workers experience conflict between work and family demands. Research has identified numerous practices to manage this conflict with positive implications for non-work relationships, but the implications of these practices for work relationships remain unclear. How do efforts to manage role conflict affect workplace relationships? To examine this question, we draw on ethnographic data from 72 STEM workers across three organizations. We find that workers who experienced role conflict interpreted interactions in the workplace—often unpredictable in timing, frequency, and length—as a threat to fulfilling both their work and family roles on a daily basis. Thus, they controlled work interactions to make time for both work and non-work roles. However, interactional control limited their sense of workplace belonging and opportunities for resource exchange. In contrast, workers who did not experience daily role conflict encouraged interactions, allowing these encounters to expand across time. As a result, their work extended into evenings and weekends, and they experienced a sense of belonging and more regular resource exchange. We identify how interactional control practices manage role conflict but limit the development of workplace relationships. We also expand the repertoire of how devotion to work can be performed, identifying the occupied worker who expresses devotion through focused and efficient work and interactions rather than availability for work and interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paternal childcare engagement is a focus of work–family policy debates yet there is little consensus about what engagement means and how it might be measured. Drawing on Lamb's (1986) classification of paternal involvement, we run confirmatory factor analysis on a sample of two-parent households from the UK's Millennium Cohort Study to derive latent paternal engagement measures at nine months, three, five, seven and eleven years old. Structural Equation Modelling is used to explore the relationship between the engagement measures and parents' employment hours. Employment hours have a significant association with paternal childcare engagement in the early stages of a child's life, but it is paternal engagement in the previous time period that has a far stronger effect at every age. Specifically, paternal engagement in the first year of parenthood is important for fostering ongoing engagement until the child is at least age eleven, and this positive effect builds over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New parents must decide how to divide household, childcare, and financial responsibilities. These divisions can be difficult, especially when couples' wants do not align. Interviewing ethnically and racially diverse new parents (n = 198 couples), we explore how parents' desired allocation of childcare, household, and financial tasks differ from perceived distribution and whether discrepancies relate to coparenting relationship quality. All parents perceived mothers doing more housework and childcare and fathers contributing more financially. When women reported doing more housework and childcare than wanted, coparenting relationship quality was lower. For women, discrepancies between what they and their partners report was associated with lower coparenting relationship quality. Findings reflect traditional gender roles among new parents and women's desire for their partners to take on more household and childcare work. Such findings can help inform parenting interventions for new parents, encouraging communication between partners about the division of tasks to support their coparenting relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present work, we addressed the relationship between parental leave policies and social norms. Using a pre‐registered, cross‐national approach, we examined the relationship between parental leave policies and the perception of social norms for the gender division of childcare. In this study, 19,259 students (11,924 women) from 48 countries indicated the degree to which they believe childcare is (descriptive norm) and should be (prescriptive norm) equally divided among mothers and fathers. Policies were primarily operationalized as the existence of parental leave options in the respective country. The descriptive and prescriptive norms of equal division of childcare were stronger when parental leave was available in a country – also when controlling for potential confounding variables. Moreover, analyses of time since policy change suggested that policy change may initially affect prescriptive norms and then descriptive norms at a later point. However, due to the cross‐sectional nature of the data, drawing causal inferences is difficult. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the challenges faced by Chinese migrant families in Portugal as they navigate Western norms while preserving their cultural heritage. It examines shifting gender roles in childcare, with women increasingly entering the workforce and men's expectations influenced by education and finances. The study underscores the impact of Confucian culture on migrants' perspectives and proposes solutions to address gender disparities. It also explores household responsibilities among dual-income couples in China, highlighting the influence of family dynamics and cultural norms on gender roles. The research sheds light on the complexities of cultural adaptation and family dynamics within immigrant communities, emphasizing the need to reevaluate gender norms and childcare practices among Chinese migrants in Portugal. [Extracted from the article]

ABSTRACT The debate surrounding policy feedback and policy developments has long revolved around self‐reinforcing (positive) policy feedback. Recently, the literature has been enriched by a new research agenda that highlights the role of self‐undermining (negative) policy feedback, which is also argued to significantly influence the evolution of policies. This study contributes to the existing literature by examining changes in childcare policy, a field that has thus far primarily analysed and emphasised positive policy feedback. By analysing the case of South Korea, we demonstrate that childcare policy is a good candidate for both positive and negative policy feedback. Furthermore, it is the combination of these pieces of feedback that determines the evolution of childcare policy. Additionally, this study illustrates that inadequately addressed negative feedback may lead to unforeseen policy shifts, as exemplified in the Korean case by the introduction of the cash‐for‐care policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Research Highlights This study examined whether grandparental support is a protective factor for children's socio‐emotional development in the context of adversity. Using longitudinal data from the Millennium Cohort Study, we investigated the effects of grandparental support across development in children with and without adverse childhood experiences (ACEs). Socio‐emotional development was assessed with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire when children were aged 3 years (N = 10,186), 5 years (N = 10,412) and 7 years (N = 10,551). Parent‐reported grandparental childcare, coresidence and financial help were assessed and parents reported on the occurrence of five ACEs: physical and emotional abuse assessed with the Straus’ Conflict Tactics Scale, parental mental illness assessed with the Kessler scale, domestic violence and parental separation. We found that children with relatively higher levels of ACEs showed more prosocial behaviour and less externalizing problems when they received grandparental care compared to non‐grandparental (in)formal care, but only at age 3. By age 7, children with higher levels of ACEs receiving grandparental care showed less prosocial behaviour and more externalizing problems. In addition, grandparental financial support at age 3 was related to more externalizing problems. Post‐hoc analyses showed that internalizing and externalizing behaviours at age 5 were related to an increased probability of grandparental childcare at age 7, indicating that children's socio‐emotional problems trigger grandparental support. Our findings point to a protective effect of grandparental care on children's socio‐emotional development at age 3. Our results highlight the importance of going beyond the nuclear family towards the impact of the wider family network when examining children's socio‐emotional development. Three‐year‐old children with high levels of adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) show more prosocial behaviour and less externalizing behaviour when they receive grandparental care. Grandparental care has therefore protective effects on young children's socio‐emotional development in the context of family adversity. Grandparents respond to children's socio‐emotional problems and family adversity by increasing financial support and involvement in care. These findings underscore the importance of going beyond the nuclear family towards the impact of the wider family network when examining children's socio‐emotional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Female physicians with children often work fewer hours and take fewer shifts due to additional family responsibilities. This can contribute to a gender pay gap in the medical profession. However, limited research in Japan has quantitatively examined the factors contributing to this gap. This study aims to address this gap in the literature. Methods: We analyzed the alumni data from a medical school in Hokkaido, Japan, for 260 physicians (198 males and 62 females). We used multivariable regression models to identify factors influencing earnings from medical practice, with a focus on gender, work schedules, parenthood, and any career interruptions related to childcare. Results: Our analysis revealed a 25.0% earnings gap between male and female physicians. Nearly all female physicians with children experienced career interruptions due to childcare, while this was uncommon for male physicians. When these childcare-related interruptions were factored in, the gender pay gap narrowed by 9.7%. After adjusting for work schedules and specialty choices, female physicians with children still earned 37.2% less than male physicians, while those without children earned only 4.4% less. This suggests that motherhood is a significant driver of the gender pay gap among physicians. Conclusions: These findings highlight the negative impact of motherhood on female physicians' earnings. This emphasizes the need for policy measures to mitigate the disadvantages faced by mothers in the medical profession. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Identifying effective professional development related to providing social-emotional support in early childhood classrooms is a critical need. We used a multiple probe across participants and behaviors design to examine the impact of external coaching support on classroom coaches' use of coaching strategies with teachers in childcare programs. As secondary measures, we assessed the implementation of the Pyramid Model using a standardized tool and teachers' perceptions of children's engagement and behavior. Two classroom coaches increased their implementation of two Practice-Based Coaching components: (a) collaboration and planning and (b) reflection and feedback. Results from secondary measures were inconclusive. Our study extends the professional development research by focusing on increasing the implementation fidelity of evidence-based coaching strategies to improve teachers' use of social-emotional teaching practices in early childhood classrooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The U.S. Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) provides tiered reimbursements for healthy foods for children at participating family childcare homes (FCCH). Higher tier 1 reimbursements are for providers who operate in low-income communities or who are themselves living on a low income. All FCCHs received a higher rate to address food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A survey was administered in the spring of 2023 to a randomly selected sample of licensed California FCCHs to assess the perceived impacts of the increased reimbursement on CACFP participation and anticipated challenges with reinstated tiered rates. A total of 518 surveys (261 tier 1, 257 tier 2) were analyzed using linear or logistic regression, adjusting for confounders. Results: Among tier 1 and tier 2 providers combined, over half reported lowering out-of-pocket spending for food (59%) and serving greater variety (55%) and quality (54%) of foods. Tier 2 providers reported experiencing more benefits (p < 0.05) and tended to be more likely to implement optional CACFP best practices (although not significantly different between tiers). Most FCCH providers found reimbursement rates were inadequate before (83%) the pandemic; this amount decreased to 54% post-pandemic for tier 1 and tier 2 providers combined. Conclusions: The temporary CACFP reimbursement positively impacted the perceived quality and variety of foods served to children, especially among tier 2 providers. Increased reimbursements for all FCCHs may ensure children have access to the healthy meals and snacks provided by the CACFP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: No previous study reported an association of paternal involvement in childcare and housework with maternal physical punishment. Methods: Using data from the Japanese Longitudinal Survey of Newborns in the 21st century (N = 38,554), we analyzed responses about fathers’ involvement in childcare and housework at 6 months and mothers’ spanking of children at 3.5 years. Fathers’ involvement in childcare and housework was scored and categorized into quartiles. Spanking frequency was asked in the “often”, “sometimes”, or “not at all” categories. Multivariable-adjusted odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for the mothers’ often spanking children were computed for the fathers’ involvement in childcare and housework. We also stratified the association by fathers’ working hours (40–49, 50–59, or ≥60 hours/week). Results: Among the 16,373 respondents, the proportion of mothers who often spanked their children was 4.8%. Compared with the lowest quartile, a higher frequency of paternal involvement in housework was associated with a lower risk of spanking children (Ptrend = 0.001). Adjustment for covariates attenuated the association, but significant association was observed in the 3rd quartile of paternal involvement in housework (OR 0.77; 95% CI, 0.62–0.96). When the fathers worked fewer than 50 hours a week, a significant negative association was observed between the fathers’ frequency of childcare and the likeliness of the mothers’ spanking their children (Ptrend = 0.02). Conclusion: The fathers’ active involvement in childcare and housework could reduce the mothers’ physical punishment for their children.

Abstract Across cultures, mothers balance childcare with other labour. Hunter-gatherer mothers face a daily choice of whether to take infants on foraging trips or leave them with caregivers in the settlement, as well as deciding with whom to forage. Yet, it remains unclear how infant presence affects mothers’ mobility and food returns during group foraging. Using GPS, heart rate measurements, and food return data from 348 foraging trips by 22 BaYaka mothers in the Republic of the Congo, we found that mothers go on longer-duration foraging trips when they take infants along, compared to when they leave them behind. Despite this, infant presence does not affect mothers’ mobility, energy expenditure, or food returns. Mothers also go on longer-duration and longer-distance trips during group foraging, compared to foraging alone. However, they have decreased food returns in larger groups with more adults, possibly due to food competition. Nevertheless, BaYaka mothers maintain their energy expenditure and net food returns in general, regardless of infant presence or group dynamics, likely due to their individual foraging strategies and support from group members. Particularly, children in foraging groups increase mothers’ food returns, aligning with women’s reports of children assisting as caregivers. These findings provide insights into how BaYaka mothers accommodate childcare with subsistence activities during group foraging.

Abstract Background Female physicians with children often work fewer hours and take fewer shifts due to additional family responsibilities. This can contribute to a gender pay gap in the medical profession. However, limited research in Japan has quantitatively examined the factors contributing to this gap. This study aims to address this gap in the literature. Methods We analyzed the alumni data from a medical school in Hokkaido, Japan, for 260 physicians (198 males and 62 females). We used multivariable regression models to identify factors influencing earnings from medical practice, with a focus on gender, work schedules, parenthood, and any career interruptions related to childcare. Results Our analysis revealed a 25.0% earnings gap between male and female physicians. Nearly all female physicians with children experienced career interruptions due to childcare, while this was uncommon for male physicians. When these childcare-related interruptions were factored in, the gender pay gap narrowed by 9.7%. After adjusting for work schedules and specialty choices, female physicians with children still earned 37.2% less than male physicians, while those without children earned only 4.4% less. This suggests that motherhood is a significant driver of the gender pay gap among physicians. Conclusions These findings highlight the negative impact of motherhood on female physicians’ earnings. This emphasizes the need for policy measures to mitigate the disadvantages faced by mothers in the medical profession.

Abstract Background National legislative guidelines for sleep and rest are lacking in the Canadian licensed childcare sector. No review of Canadian legislation for licensed childcare facilities has focused on sleep. This paper provides a review of the Canadian provincial and territorial legislative landscape, regarding sleep, rest, and naps in licensed childcare centers. Methods Childcare statutes and regulations for each province and territory were identified and downloaded on a particular date. Statutes and regulations were reviewed focusing on sections articulating licensed childcare facility mandates governing sleep, rest, naps, and sleep equipment. An excel file was used to facilitate systematic data retrieval and comparisons across provinces and territories. Two authors developed and discussed themes that summarized data from the documents. Results No statutes indicated recommendations for sleep, rest, or naps. Only one regulation defined rest (Alberta). Our analysis of regulations identified four themes representing sleep, rest, and naps: programming (general programming, daily programming); space (dedicated space, amount of space, age-specific space); equipment (developmental appropriateness, acceptable sleep equipment, age-specific equipment); and safety (staffing during sleep/rest, sleep position, sleep monitoring, sleep equipment safety, prohibited practices). In Canada, minimal regulatory consistency is evident in required sleep programming, space, acceptability of sleep equipment, and sleep safety considerations. Most jurisdictions’ regulations indicated necessity for developmentally appropriate rest or sleep areas and equipment, in particular for infants, but there was minimal consistency in defining infant age groups. Conclusions Although we identified themes related to sleep across regulations, childcare regulations differ in their definitions of infants and specifications for children’s sleep and rest in licensed Canadian childcare facilities. Without adequate definitions in legislative components of appropriate sleep duration linked to children’s developmental stages, childcare facilities lack guidance to support healthy sleep for children in their care. Future research can examine translation of healthy sleep guidelines into government legislation and mandates for sleep, rest, and naps among young children in licensed childcare.

This article uses a database of fifty petitions submitted to the Lancashire Quarter Session Courts between 1660 and 1720 to locate mothers who cared for non-kin children in early modern England. While boarding children with non-kin was a practice not unknown to historians, the identities and experiences of the women who provided the childcare have hitherto been largely absent from previous scholarships. These petitions were brought by women who were not receiving the appropriate or arranged financial compensation for their caring responsibilities. Through their descriptions of disorder in their arrangements, we can uncover not only the attributes of the carers and their lived experiences but also more broadly what early modern English society expected from them. In addition, these petitions allow for a deeper understanding of how the practice of boarding children operated within and without the confines of the poor laws. Given the importance of child-rearing and the belief that it was a female task, this mothering gave common women authority that would otherwise be less accessible to them. This article thus argues that women understood the wider significance of this labour and used the influence it offered them to their advantage in their petitions. More broadly, then, this article provides a re-examination of the relationship between women, the poor law and authority in early modern England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: National legislative guidelines for sleep and rest are lacking in the Canadian licensed childcare sector. No review of Canadian legislation for licensed childcare facilities has focused on sleep. This paper provides a review of the Canadian provincial and territorial legislative landscape, regarding sleep, rest, and naps in licensed childcare centers. Methods: Childcare statutes and regulations for each province and territory were identified and downloaded on a particular date. Statutes and regulations were reviewed focusing on sections articulating licensed childcare facility mandates governing sleep, rest, naps, and sleep equipment. An excel file was used to facilitate systematic data retrieval and comparisons across provinces and territories. Two authors developed and discussed themes that summarized data from the documents. Results: No statutes indicated recommendations for sleep, rest, or naps. Only one regulation defined rest (Alberta). Our analysis of regulations identified four themes representing sleep, rest, and naps: programming (general programming, daily programming); space (dedicated space, amount of space, age-specific space); equipment (developmental appropriateness, acceptable sleep equipment, age-specific equipment); and safety (staffing during sleep/rest, sleep position, sleep monitoring, sleep equipment safety, prohibited practices). In Canada, minimal regulatory consistency is evident in required sleep programming, space, acceptability of sleep equipment, and sleep safety considerations. Most jurisdictions' regulations indicated necessity for developmentally appropriate rest or sleep areas and equipment, in particular for infants, but there was minimal consistency in defining infant age groups. Conclusions: Although we identified themes related to sleep across regulations, childcare regulations differ in their definitions of infants and specifications for children's sleep and rest in licensed Canadian childcare facilities. Without adequate definitions in legislative components of appropriate sleep duration linked to children's developmental stages, childcare facilities lack guidance to support healthy sleep for children in their care. Future research can examine translation of healthy sleep guidelines into government legislation and mandates for sleep, rest, and naps among young children in licensed childcare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Issue Addressed Methods Results Conclusion So What? Out of School Hours Care (OSHC) is an important setting to promote healthy eating and physical activity. Between 2017 and 2018, The Eat Smart Play Smart (ESPS) resources were disseminated to OSHC services across New South Wales (NSW), Australia. The aim of this study was to evaluate the awareness and usability of ESPS to support OSHC healthy eating and physical activity practices.All NSW OSHC services (approximately 1700) were invited to complete an online survey to assess awareness and use of the ESPS resources (manual and online modules). Data were analysed using SPSS (Version 29).A total of 393 OSHC staff responded to the survey. Most (75%) had used the ESPS resources. Of the 25% who had not used the resources, 63% indicated it was because they did not receive the manual and 52% were not aware of the resources. Of the OSHC services that knew about the resources, 69% indicated that ESPS contributed to their service's ability to meet the Australian National Quality Standards. Respondents identified additional support was required regarding physical activity educational materials and professional learning. Suggestions for improvements included offering content in different formats (e.g., digital).This evaluation identified factors influencing the uptake of the ESPS resources and will inform future interventions for OSHC staff to improve knowledge and practices in healthy eating and physical activity promotion.Our findings will support the optimisation of ESPS resources and inform future development of future healthy eating and physical activity interventions in the OSHC setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The labor force participation rate of women in Japan shows an M-shaped curve when plotted against age on the horizontal axis, and this trend is considered characteristic of the female labor force in Japan. However, comparing this M-shaped curve among municipalities is challenging. This study aimed to quantify this M-shaped curve. Material and Methods: The M-shaped curve was quantified using the National Census and named the M- shaped curve index. We used this index to measure the status of prefectures and municipalities and conducted multiple regression analysis using variables known to be related to women's societal advancement as independent variables. Results: By prefecture, the highest index value was 0.345 in Aichi Prefecture, while the lowest was 0.164, with metropolitan areas tending to have larger values. Multiple regression analysis for municipalities revealed that the number of household members, daycare centers, and pediatricians were negatively correlated with the size of the M-shaped curve index. Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest implications for policy decisions aimed at improving the working environment for women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Peer victimization experiences is suggested to play a mediating role in the transmission of depression symptoms between mothers and children. Childcare attendance has been found to reduce the association between mother and child depressive symptoms. However, it is not clear whether this protective effect unfolds via a reduction of peer victimization experiences in middle childhood. The aims of this study were to test (1) whether peer victimization in middle childhood mediated the association between exposure to maternal depressive symptomatology in early childhood and child depressive symptoms in late childhood, (2) whether childcare attendance moderate the direct associations between maternal depressive symptoms and children's peer victimization experiences in middle childhood as well as depressive symptoms in late childhood and (3) whether childcare attendance moderates this mediated association. Data come from the Avon Longitudinal Study of Children and Parents (N = 5526) where exposure to maternal depressive symptoms and intensity of childcare attendance were assessed repeatedly during early childhood. Children's peer victimization and depressive symptoms were self-reported at eight and 10 years of age, respectively. We used weighted structural equation modeling and found that the association between mothers and children's depression was partially mediated by peer victimization. Childcare attendance did not moderate the indirect effect of maternal depression on child depressive symptoms via peer victimization. However, we found that for children who attended childcare, maternal depression was no longer associated child depressive symptoms in late childhood. In conclusion, peer victimization experiences partly explain the intergenerational transmission of depressive symptoms, but this mechanism is not altered by children's childcare attendance. Future research should examine potential socio-emotional and school readiness mechanisms that may break the cycle of depressive symptomatology from mothers to children. Highlights: Children's peer victimization experiences partially explained the association mothers' and children's depressive symptoms. Part-time childcare attendance decreased the association between mothers' and children's depressive symptoms. We did not find that childcare attendance moderated the association between mother's depressive symptoms and children's peer victimization experiences. The protective role of childcare attendance did not unfold via a reduction of peer victimization experiences, other intermediary psychosocial factors need to be explored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Family travel often involves conflicts and compromises between parents and children, as parents balance their parental role expectations with their own desire for leisure. Based on role theory, we collected cross-sectional data on parenting-to-leisure conflict and resolution behaviors to identify clusters of family travel experience patterns of parents using latent class analysis. The analysis identified four classes: "conflicting journey: active solvers," "conflicting journey: self-repression solvers," "harmonious journey: child-centered solvers" and "harmonious journey: self-neglect solvers." Each cohort has distinct family travel behaviors and demographics, as well as distal outcomes, i.e. intention to separate from children and intention to purchase childcare services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Childcare services are widely used by families and thereby exert an important influence on many young children. Yet, little research has examined whether childcare may impact the development of child executive functioning (EF), one of the pillars of cognitive development in early childhood. Furthermore, despite persisting hypotheses that childcare may be particularly beneficial for children who have less access to optimal developmental resources at home, research has yet to address the possibility that putative associations between childcare and EF may vary as a function of family factors. Among a sample of 180 mostly White middle‐class families (91 girls), we examined if childcare participation in infancy was related to two aspects of EF (Delay and Conflict) at 3 years, and whether two aspects of maternal parenting behavior (sensitivity and autonomy support) moderated these associations. The results showed positive associations between participation in group‐based childcare and Delay EF specifically among children of relatively less autonomy‐supportive mothers. These findings suggest that out‐of‐home childcare services may play a protective role for children exposed to parenting that is less conducive to their executive development. Research Highlights: Little research has considered effects of childcare in infancy on executive functioning (EF).Long‐standing hypothesis that childcare is more beneficial for children exposed to less sensitive and supportive parenting.We test interactions between maternal parenting and childcare participation in infancy in relation to EF at age 3 years.We find positive associations between participation in group‐based childcare and Delay EF specifically among children of relatively less autonomy‐supportive mothers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The early data regarding gender implications of COVID‐19 suggest that men are more likely to die as an effect of infection while women are those who suffer the social consequences of pandemic as they dominate in care‐oriented professions and bear the consequences of increased caring needs at home. The latter includes caring for children, who, in many (European) countries have been subjected to homeschooling. However, the lockdown resulted in the fact that also men (usually white‐collar workers from middle class) changed their work organization and habits and have started working from home. Some studies suggest that this specific situation results in the increase of involvement of fathers into caring activities at home. Hence, the main goal of our paper is an attempt to answer the question if pandemic opened new opportunities for larger involvement of men in caring activities. The study will locate research outcomes in the context of gender regime in Poland in order to investigate if lockdown, online work and care responsibilities enabled to challenge or to reproduce existing gender relations, with a special focus on masculinities patterns. It will be done by analyzing data from Poland, namely, semi‐structured qualitative interviews collected in two waves – during spring lockdown 2020 and during late autumn and winter 2020/2021 with men and women working online at home and caring for underage children. By doing so, we expect to add more nuanced, crisis‐related theoretical understandings of caring masculinity concept. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses the development of inequality in Germany from 1983 to 2020, focusing on labour market trends and income inequality. Using data from the German Socio‐Economic Panel, we show that one of the most important trends in the German labour market in recent decades has been the increasing participation of women in the labour market. In addition, we confirm previous findings that inequality in earnings and household disposable income increased from the 1990s to 2005. Since then, inequality has not increased further despite changes in the composition of the labour force that tend to increase inequality, such as increased assortative matching and high net migration rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Overall, income inequality in Austria is moderate and has been stable in recent years. However, a look at employment statistics reveals important inequality trends in the labour market. This paper highlights five important shifts in the composition of the labour force: (i) a massive increase in female labour force participation; (ii) large shifts in the distribution of education; (iii) trends towards part‐time work among women as well as men; (iv) persistent gender gaps in market and non‐market work of parents; and (v) an increase in labour migration with a substantial share of cross‐border commuters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines whether and to what extent the availability of grandparents in the home plays a buffering role in the labor supply of parents of children aged 0–5 during the COVID-19 pandemic. The role of grandparents as a childcare resource and its association with parents' labor supply have received increasing attention in the literature. Limited childcare options during the pandemic underscore the need to investigate how working parents manage the double burden of family and work and what role grandparents could play. I use monthly data from the Current Population Survey (CPS) from January to May 2019 and 2020. Using a propensity score matching method, parents in three-generational households were matched to those in two-generational households. Then, I employ a difference-in-differences approach with propensity score-matched samples. Results show that parents living with grandparents are more likely to have worked last week and worked longer during the pandemic relative to parents in a two-generational household. The effects of the availability of coresident grandparents are more pronounced among single and low-educated parents than their counterparts. Furthermore, mothers and fathers show heterogeneous responses to the presence of grandparents during the pandemic. In conclusion, results highlight that grandparents played a buffering role in mitigating the adverse impact of the pandemic on parental labor supply. This study sheds light on the importance of grandparental care specifically and informal care and home-based care in general. It also provides policy implications for strengthening the childcare system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Contracting diseases or being exposed to adverse environmental factors in the first year of life may impair the development of body posture and motor coordination. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the correlation between data on the speed of passive verticalization, the number of risk factors and the quality of development in the first year of life, and the results of the functional examination of these individuals in adolescence. (2) Methods: Two groups of 60 volunteers, aged 9–14 years, were examined by performing functional tests and the retrospective analysis of their development up to the age of 1 year. The first group consisted of patients diagnosed with postural defects. The control group consisted of healthy people of the same age who volunteered for this study. (3) Results: Statistical analysis showed statistically significant differences between groups in terms of posture (p = 0.001), motor coordination (p = 0.001), and accumulated primitive reflexes (p = 0.001), as well as a high correlation between these disorders and the quality of development in the first year of life. In the first group, for the ages of 3–6 months (r = 0.96; p = 0.001), 6–9 months (r = 0.871; p = 0.001), and 9–12 months (r = 0.806; p = 0.001), no significant correlations were found with the age of 0–3 months. In the second group, the results were as follows: 0–3 months (r = 0.748; p = 0.001), 3–6 months (r = 0.862 p = 0.001), 6–9 months (r = 0.698; p = 0.001), and 9–12 months (r = 0.740; p = 0.001). In the group of adolescents with posture defects, we observed an earlier time of passive verticalization and sitting, as well as more frequent use of loungers, seats, and walkers (p = 0.026). (4) Conclusions: The analysis of this study's data indicates that the development of body posture and motor coordination may be impaired due to accelerated and passive verticalization in the first year of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]