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broader sense is the family, which regulates the lives of relatives transver-
sally and intergenerationally, in particular by distributing the main tasks
to be done in order to keep the group as cohesive and adaptive as possible
(Olson 1983 ). The division of labour within a family may be more or less
gendered depending on the country considered. Supporting institutions
are those that take charge of child and elderly care. They vary in formality
and expensiveness, as well as in their level of accessibility. They play a key
role in shaping couples’ organization strategies regarding decisions such
as sexual division of labour, housing, and geographical mobility.
Let us briefly sketch the main differences characterizing the three
countries involved in this comparison (for a detailed description, see
Chap. 2 in this book). Individuals born in Lithuania between 1970 and
1975 lived their childhood in the context of the Union of Soviet Socialist
Republics (USSR) but became adults in a democratic state. Those born
between 1950 and 1955 were already in their middle age when the regime
change took place. Political and economic instability strongly and dura-
bly affected both birth cohorts, as individuals increasingly faced poverty,
unemployment, lack of welfare support, and forced migration. When it
occurred simultaneously with their entry to the labour market, this tran-
sition impacted more severely the members of the younger cohort, mak-
ing their life trajectories more uncertain. Refamilialization and a decrease
in state support to families were also characteristic of this period. Complex
family households were more common under the USSR regime because
of housing scarcity, a situation that the transition to independence was
not able to solve, keeping young adults’ transition to autonomy difficult.
Lithuania joined the European Union in 2004.
Individuals born at the two same periods of time in Switzerland expe-
rienced privileged living conditions. In comparison to Portugal and
Lithuania, the levels of income and employment rates in Switzerland
were high and stable, and no serious political or economic event affected
the country during the same historical period. The Swiss national context
is characterized by social policies favouring a one-and-a-half-breadwinner
model and predominant part-time occupational activities for women,
young mothers in particular. Switzerland is not part of the European
Union but has many bilateral arrangements with it.
In Portugal, the Carnation Revolution of 1974 ended nearly 50 years
of right-wing dictatorship. At the same period, the colonial empire was
J.-A. Gauthier et al.