RESOURCES REVIEW: What lies beneath the modern-day family

Catherine Hakim concentrates on the changing nature of family relationships within the context of what she terms "lifestyle choices". Elsewhere these are often located firmly around leisure and consumption, but she argues they are equally applicable to the area of employment, family and sex-role preferences. Too often this second element is overlooked, as if such choices should not prevail. The EU, for example, holds up one preferred model of the family: adults work and public services provide childcare.

But this ideal does not reflect many contemporary realities. Through a rigorous comparative analysis of Britain and Spain, Hakim uses three models of the family - egalitarian, compromise and separate roles - and explores the social processes that produce these outcomes.