Raising the child together – Insights from research on (co)parenting and fertility in Finland, Japan and Portugal

Organizer: Finnish Institute in Japan
Co-organizers: Center for Sustainable Development Study of Toyo University & Centro Cultural Português

https://coparenting2025.peatix.com/

Date: 23 October
Time: 10.00 (Finnish, 8.00 Portuguese and 16 Japanese time)
Duration: 3 hours
Possibility to make questions to the speakers beforehand

This webinar focuses on parenting of today  – the challenges new parents face and ways to support gender equal parenting and family wellbeing.  As one key issue enhancing gender equal parenting and family wellbeing, the speakers focus on coparenting – that parents aim to raise the child together sharing responsibilities fairly. The webinar also addresses low fertility rates and possible reasons behind. The speakers come from three countries, Finland, Japan and Portugal, and utilize the cross-national Learning to coparent (CopaGloba) collected in the three countries. On the basis of their cross-national findings, the speakers draw a picture of the role of socio-cultural context on parenting.

Schedule

16:00-16:20            Opening and introduction to the themes of the webinar, Kaisa Malinen 
16:20-16:45            The role of non-parental adults in raising the child: Comparison between Finland and Japan, Anna Rönkä and Chino Yabunaga 
16:45-17:10            Parental Leave and the Effective Communication in Japanese Couples’ Parenting, Daisuke ITO 
17:10-17:35            Family services in supporting coparenting, Marjatta Kekkonen
BREAK
17:40-18:05            Navigating Parenthood: How Dynamics in Work–Family Conflict and Parenting Confidence Shape Second-Child Intentions in Finland, Sanna Moilanen
18:05-18:30            The role of support in the decision to have another child, Marisa Matias
18:30-18:55            Panel discussion: How socio-cultural context shapes parental teamwork
Chair: Kaisa Malinen
Panelists: Chino Yabunaga, Marisa Matias, Marjatta Kekkonen, Anna Rönkä
18:55-19:00            Closing

Opening and introduction to the themes of the webinar

The role of non-parental adults in raising the child: Comparison between Finland and Japan, Anna Rönkä and Chino Yabunaga

The presentation by Anna Rönkä and Chino Yabunaga is about the role of nonparental adults such as grandparents and friends in raising the child. They present new findings on the similarities and differences between Finnish and Japanese parents in their experiences of emotional and practical support during the first years of parenthood.

Dr. Anna Rönkä, a leader of the CopaGloba-project, works as a professor of education at the University of Jyväskylä. Her main research areas are coparenting, work-family interaction and family wellbeing. She has extensive experience in leading large, cross-national research projects funded by the Research Council of Finland.

Dr. Chino Yabunaga is the Japanese team leader of the CopaGloba project. She is a Professor of Social Policy at Toyo University in Tokyo, Japan. Her recent publication elucidates the evolution of the Finnish welfare society from the perspectives of gender and social services.

Parental Leave and the Effective Communication in Japanese Couples’ Parenting, Daisuke Ito

Using the longitudinal interview data from the heterosexual Japanese couples, Daisuke Ito highlights the impacts of fathers’ parental leaves on couples’ cooperation in parenting and the division of housework. 

Dr. Daisuke Ito is an associate professor at Tokyo Metropolitan University and a visiting researcher at the Center for Sustainable Development Studies of Toyo University. His research interest in the field of family sociology includes the division of household labor and time use. 

Family services in supporting coparenting, Marjatta Kekkonen

Based on the focus group interviews of child and family professionals, Kekkonen presents three different discourses related to preventive coparenting support, and discusses results in the light of practical implementation. 

Dr. Marjatta Kekkonen works as a Senior Researcher in the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and has expertise in child and family center services, support of parenting and research of co-parenting. Currently, the manuscript about support for co-parenting is under revision, contributing to CopaGloba (2019-2022) – project.

Navigating Parenthood: How Dynamics in Work–Family Conflict and Parenting Confidence Shape Second-Child Intentions in Finland, Sanna Moilanen

In her presentation, Sanna Moilanen will share key findings from her ongoing research on how Finnish first-time parents’ experiences of early parenthood influence their intentions to have a second child. The focus is on changes in work–family conflict during the transition to parenthood and parenting confidence in early parenthood. Approaching the recent fertility decline from the perspective of family research, the findings shed light on the interplay between parenthood experiences and childbearing decision-making in contemporary Finland, where fertility rates have declined sharply over the past 15 years.

Dr. Sanna Moilanen currently works as a university teacher at the University of Jyväskylä. Her research, conducted as part of the recently concluded OneChild project (2022–2025) funded by the Research Council of Finland, addresses the topical issue of declining fertility in Finland. She focuses on how first-time parents’ and parental couples’ experiences related to the transition to parenthood, early parenting, and work–family reconciliation influence decisions about having a second child.

The role of support in the decision to have another child, Marisa Matias

Declining fertility rates are a pressing concern in many countries. This study, part of the CopaGloba project, explores how social support and family dynamics shape parents’ decisions about having a second child. Using data from surveys and interviews with Portuguese couples raising 18-month-old children, findings show that positive co-parenting, strong social networks, and satisfaction with institutional support are more common among couples intending to have another child. Challenges in work-family balance and unequal caregiving roles also emerged, underscoring the importance of supportive policies and practices for families.

Dr. Marisa Matias works as an assistant professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto. Her research interests revolve around gender, family relationships, and the work-family interface. She has been participating in a couple of funded international projects, such as projects dedicated to coparenting, parental burnout and remote work.