MenRolesProject: The role of men in family dynamics from an international perspective

This project has received funding from the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness –Plan Nacional I+D+I (Ref. CS02013-43482-R)

Tabs group

Presentation

In recent decades, the new social role of women, female educational advancement, and the gradual weakening of men in the labor market, exacerbated by the current financial and economic crisis, have strongly affected men’s identities and roles and their educational, labor, conjugal and reproductive trajectories. This project assesses, on the one hand, gender differences in demographic and family dynamics. We analyze the differences in family formation/dissolution (cohabitation, marriage, divorce) and fertility (delay, number of children, infertility) and its related characteristics between men and women, explaining what distinguishes their family and reproductive choices, preferences and behavior at the individual level. On the other hand, we study the relevance of gender (in)equality in such decisions, taking into account the contextual aspects of (in)equality. Important transformations are expected regarding men's conjugal, reproductive and family trajectories resulting from changes in family and gender roles. Moreover, it is expected that economic and labor conditions, public policies and the social context affect the role of men in contemporary family dynamics.