The gap between attitudes and behaviors of working mothers: the case of Spain and Portugal

Abstract

The incorporation of women into the labor market and the development of social policies that enable achieving a balance between work and family are widespread trends in all OECD countries in recent decades. Spain and Portugal have traditionally been grouped in the Southern welfare model, characterized by poorly developed family policies. This paper examines the coherence between mothers' work-family attitudes and behaviors using data from Spain and Portugal from the ISSP Module ‘Family and Changing Gender Roles’ (2002 and 2012).