EN
The spatial transition of individuals and their families between the different contexts of home, work/school, and leisure activities, as well as the time spent during this “interface”, are attracting growing attention from sociologists. The focus in the present study is the transportation of children to and from day-care, school or extracurricular activities, with as central objective an examination of the sharing of responsibility for this task between parents. A secondary question relates to the types of transport employed and their possible correlation with the gender of the user. In an analysis of the various dimensions of this parental task, attention is paid to the central place children occupy in todayís families, strengthening parents’ protective instincts. The data presented result from a study of households in two zones in Portugal with diverse geographical and demographic characteristics. The quantitative and qualitative data indicate differences between men and women in types and patterns of mobility, and also in the access to and use of means of transport. The daily school run, in its broadest sense, can be taken as an activity pertaining to the domain of ìcaringî and to a certain extent this is reflected in its gendered character, as mainly women are responsible for it.