Family and work: between desire and reality

Carolina Montoro, Universidad de Navarra
Dolores D. Lopez, Universidad de Navarra
Saray Dominguez, Universidad de Navarra
Juan Jose Pons Izquierdo, Universidad de Navarra

This work forms part of a research project to study the relationships between maternity, female employment and family policy in Navarre (Spain). The paper presents the results of the “Between Nappies and the Office” Survey designed for this research. This Survey is directed at people with small children who have received some type of aid from the Navarre Government. There is a 3% sampling error. This paper analyses the triangle formed by “children desired – desire to work away from home – reconciliation strategies”. Firstly, we address the reasons to account for the difference between the individual fertility level and the number of children desired, placing particular emphasis on the problems of reconciling work and family life. We will subsequently focus on occupational strategies relating to fertility. Finally, we will describe the social and family profile of women based on the effectiveness of the reconciliation strategies defining as a successful strategy the one that coincides with a woman's aspirations. We cannot yet advance the results of this study given the fact that the fieldwork is currently being concluded.