Year: 2001
Type: book
Abstract: Unlike in the past, finding a job, getting married and having children no longer defines the normative transition from youth to adulthood.In fact, the ideal age for these tasks in the life cycle is no longer so well established as before.The phase of youth, as a time of freedom and exploration, without responsibilities, has become longer and makes the commitment to family and work less attractive for young people.Recent research has revealed that, to a greater or a lesser extent, this kind of change can also be observed in Portugal (Coupland, 1994 ;Vasconcelos, 1998).The overall process of assuming the new society demands is associated with developmental change particularly in the field of academic and professional training and family investment.The sociological change in the field of opportunities in the labor context and the reduction of the workplaces, specially full time and stable jobs, leads people to remain in the education system for a longer period in order to look for a better training that can lead to better opportunities of getting a job.The achievement of higher educational levels is especially important for women, as a strategy for ascendant social mobility, to better deal with competition and discrimination in the labour market (Estanque & Mendes, 1999).The new realities of women's participation in all spheres of social activities have brought a significant social transformation in women's role in society.Between 1981 and 1991, a significant increase in Portuguese women's participation in the work market was observed in every age group, although the increase was less spectacular among married women.In 1998, the rate of female activity was 43% (vs.57% of male activity) and only 6% of women were unemployed (vs.3.6% of male).The participation of Portuguese women in the labour market is the third highest in European community, after Denmark and the United Kingdom.Besides that, the percentage of Portuguese working mothers is the second highest in Europe, after Denmark, but although 34% of Danish women choose to work part-time, this type of work is only chosen by 4% of Portuguese women (INE, 1998 ;Vicente, Canço & Meliço, 1996).Recently, the emergence of post-modern career ethics has brought to young people a new work perspective, based upon self-fulfilment.They hope to find a job, which brings them a sense of achievement in several domains, and spend more time exploring the work market to find this kind of job (Savickas, 1992).Although young adults do not refuse the idea of having children, they want to include it in a programmed option, after raising general economic conditions as well as a stable family relationship to provide quality in their lives.For this reason, the average age of both women and men at the first marriage has risen substantially and so women tend to give birth later (INE, 1998 ;Vasconcelos, 1998). 1http://aifref.uqam.ca
Language: English
Subfield: Sociology and Political Science
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W201576117