This innovative and thought-provoking Research Handbook explores the theoretical debate surrounding work-life balance, and provides a reflection on the opportunity to adopt multilevel research approaches and perspectives, along gender and temporal axes. The Research Handbook is an international overview of current research on work-life balance, considered in macro, meso and micro perspectives.

Offering both theoretical reflections and empirical research examples illustrating the multiple strategies through which the different articulations that characterize the work-life intersection can be analysed, this Research Handbook includes analyses of gendered labour, generational assets and technological changes. Contributors provide translation and actualization of specific research practices and methodological choices, focused on different national contexts. The empirical analysis ranges from comparative research based on quantitative methods, to qualitative approaches centered on longitudinal, discursive and narrative perspectives, and mixed-method studies. Further contributions adopt innovative research methods based on the use of digital and visual technologies.

This Research Handbook will be an inspiring read for both undergraduate and postgraduate sociology and social policy students. The book is also addressed to researchers, consultants and policy makers interested in work-life balance issues.

About the Author
Edited by Sonia Bertolini, Department of Cultures, Politics and Society, University of Turin and Barbara Poggio, Department of Sociology and Social Research, University of Trento, Italy

Reviews
'This wonderful Research Handbook introduces scholarly debates on work-life balance, provides new theoretical approaches and insights, proposes innovative qualitative and quantitative research methods, and uses longitudinal and cross-national research examples in the analysis of how people define and reconcile family and work relationships.' -- Hans-Peter Blossfeld, Emeritus of Excellence, TRAc, Otto-Friedrich-Universitat Bamberg, Germany
'This excellent collection enriches substantially the work-life balance literature both at the theoretical and empirical level. Focusing on the changing and diversified contexts in which work-life tensions are experienced and balances negotiated across gender and employment relations, the authors shed new light on the different micro and macro dimensions involved, as well as on the importance of a life course perspective. Using a variety of research methods, they look at different kinds of workers and working conditions, highlighting also the ongoing redefinition of the boundaries between (paid) work and other life spheres.' -- Chiara Saraceno, Collegio Carlo Alberto, Turin, Italy



Book Information
ISBN 9781035323647
Author Sonia Bertolini
Format Paperback
Page Count 336
Imprint Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd
Publisher Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd