Highlights the fact that women’s employment is increasing in most Western countries, although the patterns are still very varied especially in relation to: the proportion who work full- or part-time; the size of the wages gap between women and men; and the extent of the infrastructural support, such as publicly-provided child care, that facilitates the reconciliation of working and home life. Notes that these are linked to the different patterns of gender relations in the wider society: both different degrees of inequality and different forms of patriarchy. Uses comparative analysis to investigate these differences and focuses on the methodological dilemmas in carrying out such cross-national research.