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- Parenthood and everyday mobilities in Portugal: a gender approachPublication . Schouten, Maria Johanna Christina; Las Heras, SoledadThe spatial transition of individuals and their families between the different contexts of home, work/school, and leisure activities, as well as the time spent during this «interface», are attracting growing attention from sociologists. The main subject of the present study relates to the transportation of children to and from day-care, school or extracurricular activities, and the strategies mothers and fathers apply to managing this routine form of mobility. In an analysis of the various dimensions of this parental task, attention is paid to the central place children occupy in today’s families, strengthening parents’ protective instincts. The data presented come from a study of households in two zones in Portugal with diverse geographical and demographic characteristics. The quantitative and qualitative data indicate differences between men and women in types and patterns of mobility, and also in the access to and use of means of transport. The daily school run, in its broadest sense, can be taken as an activity pertaining to the domain of «caring» and to a certain extent this is reflected in its gendered character.
- Chauffeuring parenthood: the everyday travel times of familiesPublication . Schouten, Maria Johanna Christina; Las Heras, SoledadThe time parents dedicate to the routine transport of their children has increased significantly since the second half of the twentieth century. This change was triggered by various developments, including new forms of parenthood, the central place the car has come to occupy in society and the tendency to urban dispersion. The article addresses the coordination efforts made by families to provide transport for their children to and from schools, nurseries or extracurricular activities. It focuses on the meaning parents attribute to the time spent on this transport, and on gender differences in this type of time allocation. To illustrate this point, analyses have been made of qualitative and quantitative data obtained in the context of a research on the use of time and technology in families, in the Portuguese districts of Castelo Branco and Braga, during the period 2010‐12. The principal revelations of this research are the diversities but also general trends in representations and practices regarding temporalities and transport shown in interviews and focus group discussions. It was found that parents interviewed considered time devoted to routine transport of their children a care task; and, linked to this, mothers bore the brunt of this fragmented and time-consuming activity