Previous research suggests an under-representation of women among teleworkers before the Covid-19 pandemic. However, we know little about whether such a gender gap was substantial, and whether it could be explained by occupational gender segregation. We explore whether a gender gap in regularly teleworking existed in the EU-28 and analyse its possible constituents, drawing on data from the European Working Conditions Survey 2015. To form a group of potential teleworkers, the analytical sample was restricted to employees who made use of information and communication technology (N ≈ 16,000). Country fixed effects regression and multilevel models were applied. The results show that women were under-represented among teleworkers compared to men, also when occupational gender segregation is taken into account; the remaining gender gap in telework is estimated at 10%. For women, working part-time and working in the private sector was associated with lower incidences of telework, but not for men. Country characteristics explain a small but significant share of telework incidence. In countries that rank high on the Gender Equality Index and have a large public sector, telework was widespread, whereas it was less present in countries with higher shares of women in the fields of science and engineering. The findings support the view that the gender gap in teleworking from home is a matter of historically grown gender inequality.

In 2007, new parental leave legislation was implemented in Germany, aiming at fostering fathers’ participation in childcare. Ten years later, fathers’ take-up of parental leave is still limited, since only every third father uses leave, and even if they take some leave, they mostly take only their exclusive ‘partner months’. The study addresses the question why more fathers do not take (more) parental leave, with a particular focus on the influence of workplaces. It uses Qualitative Comparative Analyses (QCA) to examine the mechanisms of fathers’ rejection of (longer) parental leave, differentiated by work organizations. Analyses are based on qualitative interview material with 47 fathers in three organizations. Results reveal that whether or not fathers take leave is particularly explained by workplace cultures and family economy considerations following a traditional gendered division of labour. In contrast, fathers’ taking leave for longer periods (vs. shorter ones) is mostly explained by mothers’ wishes to return to work earlier. The results suggest that it is important to understand fathers’ leave decisions as the outcome of a set of workplace and family conditions which in their interplay are multi-layered and context-sensitive.

The management revue is a peer-reviewed interdisciplinary European journal publishing both qualitative and quantitative work as well as purely theoretical papers that advance the study of management, organisation and industrial relations. The management revue publishes articles that contribute to theory from a number of disciplines, including business and public administration, organizational behavior, economics, sociology and psychology. Reviews of books relevant to management and organisation studies are a regular feature. Special issues provide a unique and rich insight into the issue's research field. The journal offers insights into selected research topics by providing potentially controversial perspectives, new theoretical insights, valuable empirical analyses and brief reviews of key publications. The aim is to establish the management revue as a top quality symposium journal for the international academic community. The journal is available online via the Nomos eLibrary, ABI/INFORM Global and JSTOR and listed via RePEc, EconPapers, Ideas/RePEc and Elsevier/Scopus.

This paper examines the relationship between different aspects of the parental leave use by German fathers and their subsequent engagement in childcare. The relationship between the use of parental leave by fathers and their time spent on childcare on weekdays in subsequent years is broken down...

In the early 2000s, Germany's Red-Green government introduced a new type of marginal employment in the form of 'Minijob' legislation. In the context of the dualisation strategy of the German welfare state, Minijob legislation has supported firms in extending the secondary segment of marginal jobs. However, Minijobs are associated with particularly low social security and high poverty risks, and these positions are primarily staffed by women. Therefore, the extension of the Minijob system has contributed to the persistence of traditional structures of gender inequality. This empirical study examines how demand and supply side factors interact with welfare state institutions and politics in the production of marginal employment of women in part-time jobs. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we used logistic regression to analyse women's risk of working in Minijobs based on family, educational, biographical and workplace characteristics. The research results identify both supply side and demand side factors as being significant in shaping a situation whereby married women with small children and lower levels of education who work in small, non-public firms are particularly exposed to the risks of marginal employment in Minijobs.