Volume 25 - Article 11 | Pages 371-406

Towards an integrated approach for the analysis of gender equity in policies supporting paid work and care responsibilities


Date received:	21 Dec 2010
Date published:	05 Aug 2011
Word count:	7417
Keywords:	commodification, decommodification, defamilialisation, familialism, gender, social policy
DOI:	10.4054/DemRes.2011.25.11
Weblink:	You will find all publications in this Special Collection “Intergenerational family ties in Europe: Multiple linkages between individuals, families and social contexts” at http://www.demographic-research.org/special/11/

Abstract

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework for analysing the degree to which public policies support gender equity in paid work and care. Combining the distinction between commodification and decommodification and the distinction between defamilialisation, supported familialism, and familialism by default our study identifies a number of relevant policies, ranging from services, leave entitlements, income support measures, and fiscal instruments to forms of acknowledgement of care work in pension systems. Although our main objective is conceptual, we offer a comparative overview of these policies for all of the EU countries, plus Norway. Thus, we provide a preliminary typology of policy approaches.

Author's Affiliation

Chiara Saraceno - Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Germany [Email]
Wolfgang Keck - Wissenschaftszentrum Berlin für Sozialforschung, Germany [Email]