companies are doing to help individuals combine work and family roles. A strong theme throughout this work is that these types of HR strategies are developed because of several business-related pressures. Some pressures relate to preventing productivity losses associated with dependent care or a lack of work/family balance, while others are seen as presenting opportunities for organizations. Brannen and Lewis, for example, quote a study of 243 large companies which showed that women returned to work after maternity leave sooner in nine of ten companies that offered family-friendly bene ts. This edited volume presents an impressive and well-structured account of how national cultures and social policies place constraints on, or provide encouragement for, men’s and women’s sharing of breadwinning and childcare roles as well as the development of gender-equitable work–family policies and practices within work organizations. An international perspective is adopted that enables authors to examine common challenges and solutions that may or may not work across country lines. The book is divided into three parts. Part 1 provides detailed accounts of the status of mothers and fathers in the labour market in the four countries. It concludes that trends evident in all the countries are remarkably similar despite very different public policy orientations and social forces. Even in ‘enlightened’ Sweden, Bjornberg argues, Swedish women are experiencing a backlash in their attempt to achieve equal participation in the labour market. ‘Traditional gender discrimination is being revitalised by stiffer competition in the labour market, in which men are favoured. By earning more, men can set the conditions for participation in family life at the expense of women’ (p. 73). However, it is in Parts 2 and 3 of this volume that emphasis is placed on the importance of cultural change and the conditions that hinder or facilitate the development of work–family policies. These parts provide detailed information about the practices and policies within many different types of organizations located in different cultures. Many contributors describe how some workplaces have become more responsive to the family needs of and demands on their employees, while also emphasizing the dif culties and problems that lie ahead. In the introduction to Part 3 it 1130 The International Journal of Human Resource Management is recognized that ‘deeply held assumptions about the appropriate roles of men and women and about the structure of work life must be challenged if real progress . . . is to occur’ (p. 163). The general philosophy expressed in this volume is that cultural change may be hard, but is not impossible. Consequently, many of the chapters offer a range of general principles for effecting successful change. For example Lewis, in |
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