School of Social Sciences and Law British Academy dissemination event: setting the context for the bid. Prof. Tina Miller Department of International Relations, Politics and Sociology, Oxford Brookes University, UK.

School of Social Sciences and Law Companion studies on motherhood and fatherhood in the UK.

Some conclusions from the Fatherhood study Caring for a baby is hard and societally undervalued work it is literally 24 hours a day Paternity leave enables early learning of caring skills to be shared Juggling work/family life holding it all together can be experienced as highly stressful and relationships can become strained New fathers can feel unsupported, and isolated lacking some of the support they see new mothers enjoying Dominant ideals of masculinity can make it difficult to show weakness, ask for help, admit to not coping or feeling stressed – a male pride thing can be obstructive Different discourses available for men and women in relation to motherhood/fatherhood and caring/work School of Social Sciences and Law

British Academy funded project : The rationale Project Title: Men, work and family life: A comparison of mens work/family reconciliations in the UK and Italy. Significant differences in policies and practices between European countries are discernible - most notably between Northern and Southern European countries Even where policies are in place to enable men to combine family caring with paid work, take up is not straightforward as other social and cultural factors come into play What do mens ideas, expectations and practices around work/family life in two different European country and policy settings look like? How are they similar and/or different? Why/are some work related behaviours and/or caring practices more resistant to change than others even when policy initiatives to facilitate change are implemented? Are we seeing (significant) change in this arena and if so, what does it signal? School of Social Sciences and Law