Suchergebnisse

This article presents a study of the self-presentation of shopping centers in the Czech Republic as "family-friendly" spaces. The notion of family-friendliness is analyzed both as a structural category, referring to the structure of the stereotypical normal family and to its respective members, and as a cultural representation, referring to "family values," which Czech malls invoke in their self-presentation. It is argued that the presentation of a "space for the whole family" covers only the persistent stereotype of female-led economic consumption. The family values of safety and comfort distinguish shopping centers negatively from the city centers. They also strongly refer to the country's past by invoking the image of a family promenade. On a more general level, the family appeal thrives on the phenomenon of postsocialist privatism and on the turning away from the public sphere in favor of the private realm of the family.

Family-friendly workplaces have been shown to yield incredible benefits including improved child development, parents with better mental health outcomes, and important strides for gender equality and equal pay. That is why I am exploring the distribution of family-friendly entitlements in Australia by assessing the policies of 4,841 Australian workplaces against an original family-friendliness metric. I will then interview workplaces to identify which factors encourage and discourage family-friendly policies. The results of these analyses will be used to propose legislative recommendations with reference to international best practice to improve the distribution and prevalence of family-friendly workplaces in Australia moving forward.

Zachary P. Neal and Jennifer Watling Neal on preferences and perceptions.

Purpose of this article is to disclose the effectiveness of family friendly policy implementation based on the attitudes of the parents with juvenile children, attitudes of experts in family friendly policy. The research goals are the following: 1) to describe the concepts family and family friendly policy; 2) to characterize support for family in the context of the welfare states regimes; 3) to analyse family social support system in Lithuania; 4) to prepare qualitative research methodology; 5) to carry interviews with parents with young children and experts on family friendly policy; 6) to present conclusions and recommendations for the improvement family and working life reconciliation. The research results revealed that there are no considerable differences in both parents and expert's attitudes towards family friendly policy in Lithuania. Both tend to criticize Lithuanian family friendly policy and indicate more disadvantages than advantages. The results indicated, that due to attitudes expressed by the informants, State should ensure adequate benefits and other social assistance means for families with young children; improve existing maternity, paternity and parental leave schemes, the legal basis; to increase public attention and subsidies to young families by helping to purchase real property; to establish more free future parents education centres.DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ppaa.16.3.19342

What Corporate America innovates, the government legislates. This has particularly been the case with employee benefit programs. For years we have observed the federal and state governments enact laws to protect the rights of the employees benefiting from these programs. For better or worse, these laws are often accompanied by significant administrative obligations for the employer or the plan sponsor. This article examines recently legislated "family-friendly" employee benefit programs, specifically, adoption assistance, lactation accommodations, child support collection, benefits for the treatment of infertility and state enhancements to FMLA. A brief description of the plan is provided as well as why these benefits are offered, the benefit to the employee, corporate compliance requirements and possible penalties (if any) and an overall rationale for offering the program. The article concludes by suggesting several useful approaches that companies can adopt to respond to these regulations and to protect themselves and their employees.

Why is it that in the current period of high unemployment and industrial restructuring, some employers are implementing policies which attempt to make it easier for employees to combine employment, domestic and family responsibilities? It would seem unnecessary in times of economic difficulty and adjustment for employers to accommodate the needs of employees, particularly when unemployment levels are high ‐ in the case of Australia unemployment exceeds 11%. This paradox, however, exists in many western industrialised countries.

The recent surge of women & mothers into the workforce has generated a call for changes that make it easier to combine employment with family life. Because neo-classical economic theory assumes that existing workplace structures are efficient, suggestions for reform have encountered resistance on the grounds that family-friendly reforms will prove costly for firms & society as a whole. In particular, so-called "accommodation mandates," which require employers to extend benefits like paid leave & job protection to parents, have been attacked as potentially inefficient & as harmful to those they are designed to help. This article challenges the suggestion that existing arrangements maximize social welfare & that family-friendly reforms will undermine efficiency. Using dynamic game-theoretic models, it explains how management-worker interactions can get stuck in equilibria that generate less well-being overall than more family-friendly alternatives, & it shows how family-friendly arrangements may be difficult to maintain despite their potential for making everyone better off. The article speculates on measures that might foster the adoption & stability of family-friendly workplace forms. 44 References. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright 2004 The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]

This volume discusses why faculty and administrators of academe should care about implementing family-friendly policies and practices, as well as how faculty and administrators can advocate for policy changes. Faculty and administrators can benefit from these case studies' guidance on how to create family-friendly campuses at their institutions.