Handbook cover

Research

Recent Highlights

THE PALGRAVE HANDBOOK OF FAMILY POLICY

Co-edited with Wim van Lancker, this handbook provides a multilevel view on family policies, combining insights on family policy outcomes at different levels of policymaking: supra-national organizations, national states, sub-national or regional levels, and finally smaller organizations and employers. At each of these levels, a multidisciplinary group of expert scholars assess policies and their implementation, such as child income support, childcare services, parental leave, and leave to provide care to frail and elderly family members. The chapters evaluate their impact in improving children’s development and equal opportunities, promoting gender equality, regulating fertility, productivity and economic inequality, and in all cases take an intersectional perspective related to gender, class, and family diversity. The editors conclude by presenting a new research agenda based on five major challenges pertaining to the levels of policy implementation (in particular globalization and decentralization), austerity and marketization, inequality, changing family relations, and welfare states adapting to women’s empowered roles.

THE DIMINISHING POWER OF ONE? WELFARE STATE RETRENCHMENT AND RISING POVERTY OF SINGLE-ADULT HOUSEHOLDS IN SWEDEN 1988–2011 (EUROPEAN SOCIOLOGICAL REVIEW)

Together with Susanne Alm and Kenneth Nelson, we analyse the sharp rise in poverty among working-age singles and single parents in Sweden. In a dual-earner society like Sweden, we show that the return of mass unemployment in combination with the retreat of a generous and inclusive welfare state have substantially increased the poverty risks of single-adult households, who cannot rely on the income buffering effect of the family. Whereas cutbacks to unemployment benefits have been detrimental for the relative income position of single-adult households, the poverty risks of couples with and without children are much less affected. Individual-level characteristics of the poor persons themselves provide little explanatory leverage for why trends in poverty diverge by family form. Our results raise a number of issues of relevance for the wider academic debate about the capacity of the welfare state to adequately respond to both old and new social risk groups.

 

Full list of Publications

Books
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., & Van Lancker, W. (Eds.). (forthcoming). The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030546175
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., & Maldonado, L. C. (Eds.). (2018). The triple bind of single-parent families: Resources, employment and policies to improve wellbeing (1st ed.). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt2204rvq
  • Nieuwenhuis, R. (2014). Family policy outcomes: Combining institutional and demographic explanations of women’s employment and earning inequality in OECD countries, 1975-2005. PhD Dissertation University of Twente.
Articles in Peer-Reviewed Journals
  • Alm, S., Nelson, K., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2020). The Diminishing Power of One? Welfare State Retrenchment and Rising Poverty of Single-Adult Households in Sweden 1988–2011. European Sociological Review, 36(2), 198–217. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcz053
  • Nieuwenhuis, R. (2020). Directions of thought for single parents in the EU. Community, Work & Family, 1–8. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2020.1745756
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Van Lancker, W., Collado, D., & Cantillon, B. (2020). Trends in Women’s Employment and Poverty Rates in OECD Countries: A Kitagawa–Blinder–Oaxaca Decomposition. Italian Economic Journal, 6, 37–61.
  • Fisher, J., Languilaire, J.-C., Lawthom, R., Nieuwenhuis, R., Petts, R. J., Runswick-Cole, K., & Yerkes, M. A. (2020). Community, work, and family in times of COVID-19. Community, Work & Family, 23(3), 247–252. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2020.1756568
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Need, A., & Van der Kolk, H. (2019). Family policy as an institutional context of economic inequality. Acta Sociologica, 62(1), 64–80. https://doi.org/10.1177/0001699318760125
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., & Kossek, E. E. (2018). Work-life balance in times of recession, austerity and beyond (book review). Community, Work & Family, 21(1), 106–109. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2017.1388002
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Need, A., & Van Der Kolk, H. (2018). In de etalage: Kan ouderschapsverlof te lang zijn? Mens & Maatschappij, 93(2), 175–178.
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Need, A., & Van der Kolk, H. (2017). Is there such a thing as too long childcare leave? International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 37(1/2), 2–15. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-07-2015-0074
    • Nieuwenhuis, R., Munzi, T., & Gornick, J. C. (2017). Comparative Research with Net and Gross Income Data: An Evaluation of Two Netting Down Procedures for the LIS Database. Review of Income and Wealth, 63(3), 564–573. https://doi.org/10.1111/roiw.12233
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Grotenhuis, M., te, & Pelzer, B. (2017). Weighted Effect Coding for Observational Data with wec. The R Journal, 9(1), 477. https://doi.org/10.32614/RJ-2017-017
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Van der Kolk, H., & Need, A. (2017). Women’s earnings and household inequality in OECD countries, 1973–2013. Acta Sociologica, 60(1), 3–20. https://doi.org/10.1177/000169931665452
  • te Grotenhuis, M., Pelzer, B., Eisinga, R., Nieuwenhuis, R., Schmidt-Catran, A., & Konig, R. (2017). When size matters: Advantages of weighted effect coding in observational studies. International Journal of Public Health, 62(1), 163–167. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0901-1
    • te Grotenhuis, M., Pelzer, B., Eisinga, R., Nieuwenhuis, R., Schmidt-Catran, A., & Konig, R. (2017). A novel method for modelling interaction between categorical variables. International Journal of Public Health, 62(3), 427–431. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00038-016-0902-0
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., & Maldonado, L. C. (2016). Prepare versus Repair? Combining parental leave and family allowances for social investment against single-parent poverty. Belgian Review of Social Security (Belgisch Tijdschrift Voor Sociale Zekerheid), 57(1), 115–122. https://doi.org/10.31235/osf.io/qgykj
  • Maldonado, L. C., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2015). Family policies and single parent poverty in 18 OECD countries, 1978–2008. Community, Work & Family, 18(4), 395–415. https://doi.org/10.1080/13668803.2015.1080661
  • Andringa, W., Nieuwenhuis, R., & Van Gerven, M. (2015). Women’s working hours: The interplay between gender role attitudes, motherhood, and public childcare support in 23 European countries. International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, 35(9/10), 582–599. https://doi.org/10.1108/IJSSP-10-2014-0073
  • Nieuwenhuis, R. (2015). Association, Aggregation, and Paradoxes: On the Positive Correlation Between Fertility and Women’s Employment. Demographic Research, 32(23), 1–5.
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Te Grotenhuis, M., & Pelzer, B. (2012). Influence.ME: Tools for Detecting Influential Data in Mixed Effects Models. R Journal, 4(2), 10.
  • Levels, M., Need, A., Nieuwenhuis, R., Sluiter, R., & Ultee, W. (2012). Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in the Netherlands 1954-2002. European Sociological Review, 28(3), 301–318. https://doi.org/10.1093/esr/jcq065
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., Need, A., & Van der Kolk, H. (2012). Institutional and Demographic Explanations of Women’s Employment in 18 OECD Countries, 1975-1999. Journal of Marriage and Family, 74(3), 614–630. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2012.00965.x

 

Book chapters
  • Nieuwenhuis, R., & Van Lancker, W. (2020, forthcoming). Introduction: A Multilevel Perspective on Family Policy. In R. Nieuwenhuis & W. Van Lancker (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030546175
  • Maldonado, L. C., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2020, forthcoming). Dual-earner family policies at work for single-parent families? In R. Nieuwenhuis & W. Van Lancker (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030546175
  • Nieuwenhuis, R. (2020, forthcoming). Family Policy: Neglected Determinant of Vertical Income Inequality. In R. Nieuwenhuis & W. Van Lancker (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030546175
  • Sirén, S., Doctrinal, L., Van Lancker, W., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2020, forthcoming). Childcare indicators for the next generation of research. In R. Nieuwenhuis & W. Van Lancker (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030546175
  • Van Lancker, W., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2020, forthcoming). Conclusion: The next decade of family policy research. In R. Nieuwenhuis & W. Van Lancker (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave Macmillan. https://www.palgrave.com/gp/book/9783030546175
  • Nelson, K., Nieuwenhuis, R., & Alm, S. (2020). Sweden: Adjoining the Guarantee Pension with NDC. In R. Holzmann, E. Palmer, R. Palacios, & S. Sacchi (Eds.), Progress and Challenges of Nonfinancial Defined Contribution Pension Schemes: Vol. Volume 1. Addressing Marginalization, Polarization, and the Labor Market (pp. 215–239). World Bank. https://doi.org/10.1596/31626
  • Ebbinghaus, B., Nelson, K., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2019). Poverty in old age. In B. Greve (Ed.), Routledge International Handbook of Poverty (1st ed., pp. 256–267). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429058103-20
  • Nieuwenhuis, Rense. (2020). Women’s Employment and Economic Inequality Between Households. In L. Spillman (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0252
  • Maldonado, L. C., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2019). Single Parents in Context. In L. Spillman (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0220
    • Maldonado, L. C., & Nieuwenhuis, R. (2018). Conclusion. In R. Nieuwenhuis & L. C. Maldonado (Eds.), The triple bind of single-parent families: Resources, employment and policies to improve wellbeing (pp. 449–457). Policy Press.
  • Nieuwenhuis, Rense, & Maldonado, L. C. (2018). Single-parent families and in-work poverty. In H. Lohmann & I. Marx (Eds.), Handbook on In-Work Poverty (pp. 171–192). Edward Elgar Publishing. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781784715632
  • Nieuwenhuis, Rense, & Maldonado, L. C. (2018). The triple bind of single?parent families: Resources, employment and policies (introduction). In R. Nieuwenhuis & L. C. Maldonado (Eds.), The triple bind of single-parent families: Resources, employment and policies to improve well-being (pp. 1–27). Pollicy Press.
  • Nieuwenhuis, Rense, Tøge, A. G., & Palme, J. (2018). The health penalty of single parents in institutional context. In Rense Nieuwenhuis & L. C. Maldonado (Eds.), The triple bind of single-parent families: Resources, employment and policies to improve wellbeing (1st ed.). Policy Press. https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctt2204rvq
  • Nieuwenhuis, Rense, & Van Lancker, W. (2017). Family Policies [Data set]. In L. Spillman (Ed.), Oxford Bibliographies in Sociology (pp. 9780199756384–0205). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/obo/9780199756384-0205