Economic analysis of the family is a recent, but already well-established area in economics. Economists have developed new methods to analyze decisions such as marriage, childbearing, divorce and the use of family resources. The economic approach has become crucial for design and understanding in many policy areas of current interest in modern societies, such as family, tax, social security and gender equality policies. The text bears evidence to the lively and relevant research in the area. The first part provides a picture of the state of the art of economics of the family as it relates to...

At a time when women in industrialized countries have a stronger and more permanent presence in the labour market than ever before, why does the gender pay gap differ so greatly between countries? The contributors to this book use empirical studies of gender differences in family responsibilities and time allocation to demonstrate how such differences affect women's wages and analyse pay structures and wage mobility throughout Europe.