In Denmark, the couple family is the most predominant family constellation, comprising almost 71% of all the families with children (Petersen and Nielsen 2008:
29). Furthermore, 73% of all Danish children were living with both biological parents in 2007 (Petersen and Nielsen 2008: 7). During the last 25 years, the percentages of types of families with children living at home (i.e. single parents, married couples, other couples etc.) have stayed roughly the same, without any significant changes (DS 2011: 21). In the sample, all of the 11 families consist of two parents and one or more children. Only two of the families include parents who are not the children’s biological parents. However, as mentioned earlier, during the course of this study, two of the couples in the sample split up. Moreover, in only two of the families are children brought together from prior relationships. In Denmark, each family has an average of 1.79 (DS 2013b). For the families in the sample this number is 2.09 children per family, ranging from one to three children.
Denmark has the fifth-highest frequency of employment in the EU amongst 30- to 49-year-olds (DS 2011: 51). In most nuclear families both parents work, and in 2004, in 80% of families with two children under the age of 13, both parents were employed (Nielsen and Rasmussen 2005: 6, Arbejdslivskommissionen 2007: 33). In the sample, all 22 parents but one were employed at the time of the interviews, but several worked only part time. Interestingly most of the families made it clear during the interviews that they do now, or did at some point when the children were young, manage their everyday lives through explicit career strategies in which one of the parent’s careers is prioritised at the expense of the others; typically it is the woman who reduces working hours. This is in line with the fact that the average daily working hours of women with pre-school age children are on average 37 minutes shorter than those of women without children (Bonke 2012: 128-9). Moreover, this reflects the gap between men and women’s average number of work hours per day, respectively 5.22 vs. 4.16 hours in 2012 (Bonke 2012: 63-4).
In 2010 72.4% of Danish women were working, which is considerably higher than the EU average of approximately 65% (DS 2011: 49). During the last 45 years Danish women’s daily average work hours have increased by 8 minutes per decade, while men, in the same period, have decreased theirs by 26 minutes, resulting in a more equal gender split in the Danish labour market, though it is still in favour of the men (Bonke 2012: 32). Consequently, as the parents in the study also state, in most families with younger children (under the age of 10) both parents contribute to shouldering the workload of housekeeping and other obligations related to the children and their activities (Deding, Lausten and Andersen 2006: 126-7).
Another consequence of the high level of employment for both genders is that almost all Danish children are professionally cared for outside the home in nurseries, day care, kindergartens and after-school centres during the day. In 2013, 91% of 1- to 2-year-olds attended either nursery or day care and 97% of 3- to 5-year-olds where in kindergartens and 87% of the 6- to 9-year olds some type of after school care (DS 2014a). These facts are reflected in the families in the study. All of the children are attending or have attended some sort of care facility outside the home. Furthermore, Deding, Lausten and Andersen, in a study of families with children under the age of 10, find that most families have a social network of either other family members, friends, neighbours or significant others who are able to help with informal care of their children if a sudden need arises (Deding, Lausten and Andersen 2006: 23-4). Most families rely predominantly on grandparents for support in daily life (see Christensen (2000) only in Danish). Still, 6% of families have no network support. In this study, most of the families report that they have a social network capable of taking care of the children if needed. However, in three of the families both parents originate from outside the Greater Copenhagen Area, and their parents are unable to help in daily life.
WORK TIME
In 2006 the average workweek in families with children under the age of 10 was 42.5 hours for men and 35 hours for women (Deding, Lausten and Andersen 2006: 28).
Furthermore, 45% of women and only 6% of men worked less than 37 hours per week.
This trend is also reflected in the study; as mentioned above, nearly all of the women
(procentage)
women men
less than 37 hours per week 45 6
37 hours per week 32 32
more than 37 per week 23 62
Table 5: Procentage of women and men in families with children under the age of 7 working part time, full time and more than full time, adopted from Deding, Lausten and Andersen (2006:28). 37 hours per week is the Danish work week norm.
have at some point been or still are working reduced hours. At the other end of the spectrum, 62% of the men and only 23% of the women work more than 37 hours per week in Danish families.
Of the eleven families in the study, only one couple clearly stated that they focused particularly on the woman’s career, while five explicitly stated that they focused on the man’s, and in the remaining five it was unclear or equal.
The same study showed that 17-19% of parents do not have fixed working hours (Deding, Lausten and Andersen 2006: 32). 70% of men and 49% of women have the opportunity to work flex hours (defined as being able to choose an arrival time at work and a departure time with to up 2 hours of variation). Also, 48% of the men and 37% of the women are able to work fully or partially from home (Deding, Lausten and Andersen 2006: 35-6). In the study most of the parents work away from home, although a few report they are able to perform some work-related tasks from home. Furthermore, most of the parents have relatively fixed working hours.
However, although none of the parents explicitly stated that they have flex hours during the interviews, based on their accounts of their daily lives there is reason to believe that most of them have some flexibility and autonomy in when they arrive at and leave work. Only a few of the parents have significantly varying work schedules
and occasionally have work shifts during evenings and nights. Furthermore, most of the nine teenage children in the study have an after-school job, such as working in a shop or delivering newspapers. Of them, one works nearly full time, and the rest have part-time jobs at which they work only once or a few times per week.
commute time (minutes) transport mode(s)
Family mother father total Location of residence mother father
Lindborg unemployed 60 60 Urban neighbourhood - car
Petersen 40 60 100 Urban neighbourhood bike bike-train
Bach 50 90 140 Suburban neighbourhood car bike/train
Møller 60 60 120 Suburban neighbourhood car car
Jensen 30 30 60 Urban neighbourhood bike bike
Sørensen 10 60 70 Urban neighbourhood walk train
Vangsgaard 80 40 120 Urban neighbourhood bike-train-bus car
Hartmann 80 40 90 Suburban neighbourhood car car
Halkær sick leave 80 80 Suburban neighbourhood - bike/bus
Nielsen 80 30 110 Suburban neighbourhood metro-train car
Juhl 20 20 40 Urban neighbourhood bike bike
Table 6: Commuting time, location of residence and modal choice in the families
In Denmark, the average commute to and from work was 45.2 minutes in 2009 (Bonke 2012: 61). Over the last 100 years the daily commuting time has increased only slightly: based on a 1911 study in Copenhagen, the approximate commute time was 38 minutes in 1911 (Pilegaard and Nielsen 2013: 147) However, the commute distance has increased significantly, from 1.5 km in 1911 in the municipality of Copenhagen to an average distance in Denmark as a whole of 11.8 km in 1982 (Pilegaard and Nielsen 2013: 147) to 20.1 km in 2013 (DS 2014). Deding, Lausten and Andersen (2006: 31) also find that in families with children under the age of 10, the parents spend between 20 and 25 minutes (not counting time for dropping off or picking up children) commuting to work. The parents in this study spend on average 24.5 minutes commuting. The longest commute is 1.5 hours per day and the shortest is only 10 minutes per day. As table 6 shows, in line with the discussion of urban structure above, the predominant modal choice for commuting is the car for those families living in suburban areas, while it is a mix of public transport and biking in urban areas.
HOUSEKEEPING
The near-equality of the genders in the labour market in Denmark is also found in the division of chores and tasks related to housekeeping, although there is still some difference between men and women. Men spend, on average, approximately 2.5 hours per day on tasks related to the household and housekeeping (not counting child care and dropping off and picking up children from activities), while women spend 3.5 hours (Bonke 2012: 72). Still, this difference is much smaller than it is in many other countries in the EU (see comparison Bonke 2012: 131). When looking specifically at
tasks related to child care, transport related to the escorting of children and family care in general, there is almost an even split between men and women in Denmark (Bonke 2012: 77). It is still, however, the mother who performs the most direct childcare17, i.e., activities in which parents and children are co-present and that accommodate the
17 Bonke (2009:43) states childcare, according to Eurostat, can be divided into primary-, secondary- and tertiary-childcare. Primary childcare denotes activities performed to accommodate the child's needs or interests. Secondary childcare denotes activities in which the child's needs or interests are accommodated to some degree but not the sole purpose of the activity. Tertiary childcare denotes activities where the child i present, but the activity is not directly related to the child's needs or interests. Direct childcare is a shorthand for primary- and secondary childcare.
mother father
1 child 61 38
2 children 89 60
3 children 112 64
Table 7: Minutes used per day on primary childcare, adopted from Bonte (2009: 44)
child’s needs and/or interests (Bonke 2009: 43-4). However this division of labour differs depending on the number of children (see table 7).
This overall picture is also found among the families in the study. Although the study has not sought to track the exact time spent on housekeeping in the families, from the interviews it is clear that most of the parents to a large extent share the workload, although it is often distributed in specific gendered tasks such as men mowing lawns and women shopping. In fact in only one of the families was it explicitly stated the man was in charge of most of the housekeeping tasks in their daily life. In terms of childcare, the general impression from the families in the study is that, although the fathers are actively involved in the children’s everyday lives, it is still the mothers who are the primary caretakers of pre-school children, though this picture is much blurrier for older children. In general over the last 20 years (in the period from 1987 to 2008), parents’ time usage for primary childcare has increased from approximately 1.5 to 2.5 hours per day for 0- to 2-year-olds and from 1 to 1.5 hours per day for 3- to 5-year-olds (Bonke 2009: 46-51). Internationally, compared to studies in Canada, England and the USA, Danish parents spend the most time on childcare of any of the four (Bonke 2009: 118-9)18.
LEISURE TIME
In 2009 Danish men had an average of 8.5 hours and women 8.75 hours of leisure time during the week, and an average of 11.25 and 10.75 hours19 at weekends (Bonke 2012: 87-8). However, only approximately 1.25 hours of the leisure time is spent on active leisure activities (defined as hobbies, sport activities, culture and entertainment activities such as the cinema and museums) while the rest is spent on passive activities (defined as reading, socialising, TV, radio, music and computer) (Bonke 2012: 90).
Tn two out of three families one of the parents actively participates in one recurring leisure or sport activity (Bonke 2012: 91). However, in only 27% of the families are both parents actively involved in a recurring leisure or sport activity, compared to 37%
of couples without children (Bonk 2012: 91). These facts are reflected in the overall impression of the families in the sample. Most of the parents in the sample have only one or no personal regular leisure or sport activity outside the home. However, in only one of the four families with young children (under the age of 10), do both parents pursue personal leisure or sport activities. In fact, in the three remaining families with young children, the parents explicitly state that they have completely deselected their own activities due to the time pressure of having young children. However, in the families with older children, most of the parents have one or more personal activities, but still it is the children’s after-school activities that are prioritised and dictate time usage.
18 See Bonke (2009: 118-9) for a in-depth review of all the reservations in this comparison.
19 Not counting time used for eating, sleeping and hygiene.
Half of Danish families have the opportunity of spending four or more evenings together without any leisure or sports activities interfering, and only a third have fewer than three free evenings per week (Bonke 2012: 91). The general picture in this study is that the families, to a quite large extent, prioritise spending time together during the evenings, but it is often difficult to unite all family members due to late and unsynchronised working hours, after-school activities, socialising with friends, homework etc. Three families with older children, in particular, stated that they seldom were together during the evening and were often unable to eat dinner together. Being unable to spend time together with all family members present during the evening is therefore not caused by the parents’ activities, but rather by the children’s after-school, sports and social activities. However, as also touched upon in chapter 2 (see section 2-7), in terms of organising cold spots and hot spots, some of the families in the study explicitly state that they try to compensate for a lack of cold spots by planning family activities at the weekends or in smaller groups.
FEELINGS OF STRESS IN EvERYDAY LIFE
As described in chapter 4 (see section 4-7), the literature on everyday family life highlights what is termed as “time squeeze” or “harriedness” as a condition in contemporary everyday family life (Southerton 2003; Jarvis 2005). In the period from 1987 to 2005 in Denmark the share of people feeling stress in everyday life rose from 6% to 9%. In the period from 1991 to 2005 the share of people experiencing a fast-paced work life increased from 18% to 36% (Arbejdslivskommissionen 2007:
22-6). Furthermore, the number of individuals working more than 37 hours per week almost doubled in the period from 2001 to 2009, from 18% to 36% (Bonke 2012:
105). In fact, in addition to spending considerable time on childcare, families with two employed parents work slightly more than couples in households without children (Arbejdslivskommissionen 2007: 35).
Interestingly, Bonke and Gerstorft (2007) show there is no direct statistical correlation between length of work hours and the feeling of being stressed. Instead they point to the level of intensity of “rush hours”, in which families transition from different activities and domains, such as work and family life, as a significant source of stress in everyday life (Bonke 2012: 106). Hence it is not so much the number of work hours that contributes to stress as it is how they are timed, situated and managed in hot spots in relation to the family’s other activities of housekeeping, childcare and family life in general. These findings are especially pertinent to this study. As will be argued in the following chapters, it is often in everyday mobility practices that family members actively seek to handle transitions between domains in everyday life. (This will be further explored throughout chapters 7 and 8 and will be brought up in the discussion that follows in chapter 10).
The statistics on everyday family life presented above convey an image of everyday life in Denmark in which families juggle work, housekeeping, childcare, leisure and social activities on a daily basis. For many families this results in time pressure and sometimes feeling stressed. Although the number of work hours may not be the largest factor contributing to this, many parents report conflict between their work and family life.
Although both men and women in families in general are satisfied with work life, family life and the balance between the two, the study on work/life balance in Denmark show nearly half of families with children under age 7 experience conflicts between their work and family life from time to time (Arbejdslivskommissionen 2007: 33). Deding, Lausten and Andersen (2006: 75) show that 44% of the women and 39% of men in families find it stressful to hold everything together in everyday family life. This should be considered in relation to the general satisfaction with the balance between work and family life. In 6% of families, both parents feel very stressed and at the same time very unsatisfied with their work/life balance, while 28% experience little stress and are predominantly satisfied with their work/life balance (Deding, Lausten and Andersen 2006: 76-7). Hence, while only a small percentage of Danish families have a very stressful everyday life, most deal with some level of stress without allowing it to negatively impact their balance between work life and family life significantly.
In the study, nearly all of the families report a busy family life with a fast pace in both work and family life. Only one family with teenage children explicitly stated that they do not feel they have a busy and rushed everyday life. Conversely, only one family openly expressed that they often feel stressed and are barely able to cope with everything in everyday life. Another of the families told how they had collectively decided to rearrange their life: the father quit his job (which required extensive work hours and a long commute) because the family felt they had too little time in their everyday life to keep things together, resulting in stress. The rest, especially the families with young children, stated that they sometimes or often feel harried in everyday life but without it becoming too much. Several parents expressed that they feel they have a high stress threshold as long as they know the stress will only last a limited period of time, or as long as they feel in control and able to pull the plug or slow down if needed. However, although time pressure and general feelings of stress are not breaking the families, some of the parents in the study expressed that they are sometimes dissatisfied with their work/life balance and relate this to being unable to spend more time with their children, neglecting social and familial obligations or suppressing personal interests and activities.
6-5: CONCLUSION
This chapter set out to provide insight into the families in the study as well as to provide a basic understanding of work and family life in families with children in the
Greater Copenhagen Area and Danish society in general.
Although the 11 families all live in Copenhagen and have children, the general impression from the brief introductions is that they lead different lives with different challenges and conditions and develop different mobility strategies and ways of coping with their everyday lives. Amongst the families a wide range of different transport modes is used in everyday life, which also reflects the differences in access
Although the 11 families all live in Copenhagen and have children, the general impression from the brief introductions is that they lead different lives with different challenges and conditions and develop different mobility strategies and ways of coping with their everyday lives. Amongst the families a wide range of different transport modes is used in everyday life, which also reflects the differences in access