Based on qualitative research carried out with young people aged from 18 to 30 in five European countries, Young Europeans, Work and Family examines young people's pathways to adulthood, and their perspectives on their future work and family lives. This enlightening book investigates young people from a range of social classes and at various phases in their life: in training, in higher education, in insecure work and in steady jobs, including high- and low-status employment. The study was carried out by a cross-disciplinary team of researchers from Ireland, Norway, Portugal, Sweden and the UK, countries that represent a variety of economic profiles and welfare state regimes.

A satisfactory and healthy integration of work with other life domains is one of the key challenges of modern society. Work-life balance and work-life integration have become focal points of today’s human resource management practice and theory. Professionals who have been described as “extreme workers” regarding their work hours and engagement are under particular pressure to balance work and ”the rest of life”. This collection maps the increasingly extensive discussion of work-life issues for professionals and discusses key aspects in depth. What is work-life integration? What are the specific challenges for professionals? How do they manage their blurred work-life boundaries? How can companies intervene? Internationally leading authors discuss antecedents and individual and organizational outcomes of work-life integration, gender-specific perspectives and challenges as well as the use and usefulness of corporate work-life balance initiatives. In five sections distinguished researchers from across the world present experiences and research findings to provide a compendium of academic and applied research on the work-life integration of professionals. Cutting-edge research and novel theoretical perspectives make this collection a source of knowledge and inspiration for academic and business audiences interested in work-life integration issues in general and in the case of professionals in particular.

A Companion to Europe Since 1945 provides a stimulating guide to numerous important developments which have influenced the political, economic, social, and cultural character of Europe during and since the Cold War. Includes 22 original essays by an international team of expert scholars Examines the social, intellectual, economic, cultural, and political changes that took place throughout Europe in the Cold War and Post Cold War periods Discusses a wide range of topics including the Single Market, European-American relations, family life and employment, globalization, consumption, political parties, European decolonization, European identity, security and defence policies, and Europe's fight against international terrorism Presents Europe in a broad geographical conception, to give equal weighting to developments in the Eastern and Western European states

Increased longevity and better health are changing the nature of family life. In the context of changes in the world of work, increased divorce and a declining welfare state, multi-generation or 'beanpole families' are a potential resource for family support. Focusing on four-generation families and the two central careers of the life course - employment and care - Working and Caring Over the Twentieth Century explores this question. Based upon new research that employed biographical methods, it maps in detail from 1910 to the late 1990s the lives of men and women as great-grandparents, grandparents and parents. The book provides unique insights into processes of change and continuity in family lives and the ways in which different generations of men and women make sense of their lives.

This book analyzes how the current generation of young adults enters the labour market and tries to create their own autonomous household, with or without children, exploring questions such as what does it mean to be a young adult in Europe today and what social policies help them to combine work and family life?

Developments in IT and communication technology, coupled with the global 24 hour market, have led to boundaries between work and personal life becoming ever more blurred, while work/life policies and practice struggle to keep up. This book aims to challenge traditional thinking on work life balance, and to explore different ways of promoting change at many levels. It provides a historical overview of the topic, critiques contemporary approaches and offers creative ideas for integrating work and personal life in local, national and global contexts.

`This comprehensive collection of almost 40 chapters - each written by a leading expert in the field - is the essential reference for anyone undertaking or studying qualitative research. It covers a diversity of methods and a variety of perspectives and is a very practical and informative guide for newcomers and experienced researchers alike' - John Scott, University of Essex `The best ways in which to understand the issues and processes informing qualitative research is to learn from the accounts of its leading practitioners. Here they come together in what is a distinctive and wide-ranging collection that will appeal to postgraduates and social researchers in general' - Tim May, University of Salford `This excellent guide engages in a dialogue with a wide range of expert qualitative researchers, each of whom considers their own practice in an illuminating and challenging way. Overall, the book constitutes an authoritative survey of current methods of qualitative research data collection and analysis' - Nigel Gilbert, University of Surrey Learning to do good qualitative research occurs most fortuitously by seeing what researchers actually do in particular projects and by incorporating their procedures and strategies into one's own research practice. This is one of the most powerful and pragmatic ways of bringing to bear the range of qualitative methodological perspectives available. The chapters in this important new volume are written by leading, internationally distinguished qualitative researchers who recount and reflect on their own research experiences as well as others, past and present, from whom they have learned. It demonstrates the benefits of using particular methods from the viewpoint of real-life experience. From the outside, good research seems to be produced through practitioners learning and following standard theoretical, empiric