Maternal Employment and Childcare Use from an Intersectional Perspective: Stratification along Class, Contractual and Gender Lines in Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden and the UK.

This article examines how social stratification factors—specifically class, employment contract type, and gender inequality—affect maternal employment and childcare use across six European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) representing five family policy models. Using data from the European Union Survey on Income and Living Conditions (EU-SILC) from 2007 to 2018 and multivariate regression analyses, the study finds that formal childcare use has generally increased for couples but less so for single mothers, with notable disparities linked to social class and contract type. The relationship between childcare use and maternal employment is stronger in countries with historically male-breadwinner-oriented policies, yet childcare access remains more stratified by class and contract in these contexts compared to dual-earner/carer models like those in Scandinavia. Additionally, households with more equal earning distributions between partners tend to use childcare more intensively, highlighting the intersection of gender inequality and family policy in shaping childcare use and maternal labor participation.