Helen Kowalewska

Comparative social policy University of Bath

How do patterns of women’s employment vary across countries?

Dr Helen Kowalewska Assistant Professor in Sociology and Social Policy, University of BathAssociate Editor, Journal of Family Studies

Helen Kowalewska, Assistant Professor in Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Bath

Recent research

All 13 publications →
2026 Journal
article

Economic, Normative, and Moral Reasoning in Employer Attitudes to Maternity Leave

Social Policy and Society

Read DOI 10.1017/S1474746425100845

Abstract
Employer attitudes towards maternity leave are often framed as a tension between opposition based on costs or ideal worker norms, versus normative or ethical support. How do employers combine and prioritise these justifications in practice? Drawing on interviews with thirty-seven British managers, this article develops a typology of employers– risk-averse, business-first, and value-driven– distinguishing the nature of support and underlying blends of economic, normative, and moral justifications. It shows how moral reasoning– often assumed to align only with a supportive stance– is also mobilised to justify exclusionary attitudes and even overt discrimination against maternity leave-takers. Further, against assumptions that shifting cultural norms and expanding rights foster greater employer support, discomfort with these changes can reinforce resistance. Relational dynamics also shape attitudes, with positive affective–personal ties between managers and staff prompting greater support. These findings offer a new lens on how family leave rights are interpreted in everyday managerial practice.
2026 Report

‘I don’t have a pension, really’: Women restarting work after 50

IPR Policy Brief, Institute for Policy Research, University of Bath

Read PDF DOI 10.5281/zenodo.22710355

2025 Journal
article

Take a Load Off? Not for Mothers: Gender, Cognitive Labor, and the Limits of Time and Money

Socius: Sociological Research for a Dynamic World

Read DOI 10.1177/23780231251384527

Abstract
Globally, women perform the lion’s share of domestic labor. Research indicates that gender disparities in cognitive labor—the “thinking work” required to anticipate and monitor household needs—are even more pronounced than in physical household labor. Although traditional theories explain the gender division of physical household labor in terms of time, money, or gender performance, the applicability of these frameworks to the mental load is unclear. The authors address that gap using survey data from 2,133 partnered, heterosexual U.S. parents. Exposing the limits of time-availability and resource-based models, the authors find that women’s employment and earnings reduce their physical household labor, but not their cognitive burden. To explain this persistence, the authors introduce the concept of gendered cognitive stickiness: once assigned on the basis of gendered expectations (often implicitly), cognitive tasks “stick” to women and resist negotiation, regardless of their employment or resources. This concept extends doing gender theory by showing how inequality is reproduced even without visible performance and identifying a dimension of domestic labor that is less situational and more internal. This hidden constraint on domestic gender equality represents an additional measure to explain the stalled gender revolution.
2023 Journal
article

The Female-Breadwinner Wellbeing ‘Penalty’: Differences by Men’s (Un)Employment and Country

European Sociological Review · with Agnese Vitali

Read DOI 10.1093/esr/jcad034

Abstract
This article examines the relationship between female breadwinning and life satisfaction in heterosexual couples. We extend previous research by treating the man’s employment status as a variable that helps to explain rather than confounds this relationship, and by comparing multiple countries through regression analyses of European Social Survey data (Rounds 2–9). Results provide evidence of a female-breadwinner well-being ‘penalty’: men and women are less satisfied with their lives under the female-breadwinner arrangement versus the dual-earner and male-breadwinner alternatives. The penalty is marginal when the male partner is part-time employed but sizeable when he is jobless. However, there are gender differences: after controls for composition, gender-role attitudes, and partners’ relative incomes, the penalty becomes negligible for women while remaining large for men. Analyses suggest these gender differences are linked to high male unemployment among female-breadwinner couples: whereas women appear roughly equally adversely affected by a male partner’s unemployment as by their own, men report substantially higher well-being when she is unemployed instead of him. Country comparisons indicate that while this female-breadwinner well-being penalty is largest in more conservative contexts, especially Germany, it is fairly universal across Europe. So, even in countries where women’s employment is more widespread and cultural and institutional support for the male-breadwinner model is weaker, unemployed men with breadwinner wives are not immune from the social stigma and psychological difficulties associated with their gender non-conformity.

Funded projects

All 5 projects →

In public

All 37 items →
2026 Evidence

Presentation to the UK Pensions Commission

gov.uk, August 2026: Presentation to the UK Pensions Commission, London.

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2026 Press

'It's Funny That We All Have The Same Experiences': Woman's Take On Mental Load In Relationships Leaves Men Angry And Women Feeling Seen

boredpanda.com, August 2026: Interviewed on why the invisible planning and remembering that keeps a home running falls to women, and why sharing whole domains works better than handing out individual tasks.

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2026 Evidence

Presentation to the Central Analysis and Science Strategy, Department for Work & Pensions

Virtual, August 2026: Presentation to the Central Analysis and Science Strategy, Department for Work & Pensions.

2026 Press

Too old to get a job, too young to retire – the frightening rise of the NERs where midlife women are stuck in limbo

thesun.co.uk, Mar 2026: WHY are so many midlife women stuck in the worrying limbo of Neither Employed nor Retired?

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2026 Press

'I Don't Want To Be His Mother': Man Wants To Move Straight From Mom's House Into GF's Without Learning A Single Chore, Gets A Reality Check

boredpanda.com, January 2026: Bored Panda spoke to Helen Kowalewska, an assistant professor in social policy at the University of Bath, whose recent research revealed that the “mental load” of managing households still falls mainly on women, even when they work full-time or out-earn their partners.

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Teaching

All 8 units →
2025– Unit convenor

Sociology of the Family and Family Policy

University of Bath

Second/third-year module for BSc degrees.

Handbook

2019 Lecturer

Population Processes in the Developed World

University of Southampton

Second-year module for BSc degrees in geography and population studies. Designed and delivered four lectures and one seminar on gender, fertility, and employment.

2019 Lecturer

Human Rights, Wellbeing and Politics

University of Southampton

First-year module for various BSc degrees in sociology, social policy, and criminology. Designed and delivered three lectures on new social risks and gender and welfare states.

2019 Teaching assistant

Project/Dissertation

University of Southampton

Marked and gave feedback on two final-year undergraduate dissertations in Population and Geography.

Grants and awards

All 13 entries →
2025 Award

Outstanding Contribution Award

University of Bath

2025 Prize

Runner Up: Best Article of the Year Prize

European Sociological Review

2025 Nomination

Nominee for the Moss Kanter International Award for Research Excellence in Work and Family

Purdue University Center for Families

2025 Grant

BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant

University of Bath

Principal Investigator on the project, ‘Too Old to Hire, Too Young to Retire? Women’s Job-Seeking Experiences After Age 50.'

About

More about Helen →

My research examines women’s employment across industrialised countries and how social policies reduce or potentially increase gender inequalities in paid work. I currently hold a BA/Leverhulme Small Research Grant for a project looking at older women’s labour market experiences and have recently completed a New Investigator Grant funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. I am also an Associate Editor for the Journal of Family Studies.