Elisabetta Ruspini & Angela Dale 
The gender dimension of social change [PDF ebook] 
The contribution of dynamic research to the study of women’s life courses

The transformations that are now taking place in women’s lives are of great interest to social scientists and policy makers, yet we know very little about the impact of this social change over time. This new study uses longitudinal data – information gathered over a considerable period of time – to provide new insights into the changing dynamics of lives of women today. In particular, it explores the potential of longitudinal or life course analysis as a powerful tool for appreciating the gender dimension of social life. The contributors view the data from a policy perspective and use comparative analysis from Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden and Japan to expand our understanding of women’s life courses in relation to both men and women and the system of inequality.

Über den Autor

Elisabetta Ruspini has a Ph D in Sociology and Social Research and is a Lecturer in Social Research at the University of Milano-Bicocca (Milan, Italy). She has extensive research experience in gender issues, lone motherhood, social and family policies, the gender dimension of poverty, and the relationship between poverty and health for women. Angela Dale is Professor of Quantitative Social Research at the University of Manchester and Director of the Cathie Marsh Centre for Census and Survey Research.