This chapter examines how couples arranged work and care in Switzerland after the birth of their first child, with a focus on couples with non-normative work-care plans. The qualitative analysis reveals that few couples had non-normative intentions and managed to transform those plans into reality. However, the non-normative arrangements that couples actually adopted during their transition to parenthood were far from gender equal. Two reasons explain the persistence of gender inequality. First, at the institutional level, maternity leave, as the one and only available leave, defines the mother as the primary caregiver and supports mothers’ specialization in care. Second, at the couple level, economic and career considerations were frequently mixed with internalized norms that refer to women as the natural primary caregivers. Consistent with prior research on parents’ practices in Switzerland, we find evidence of a modernized traditionalism of work-care arrangements.
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Front Matter
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Part I: Conceptual framework and comparative overview
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Part II: The Scandinavian model of dual-earning and dual-caring
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Part III: Varieties of earning and caring in conservative welfare states
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Part IV: Earning and caring under conditions of unsupportive familialism
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Part V: New welfare states' responses to dual earning and caring
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Part VI: Drawing conclusions: a comparative perspective on new parenthood in Europe
