Becky Pettit and Jennifer L. Hook: Gendered Tradeoffs. Family, Social Policy, and Economic Inequality in Twenty-One Countries

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In Gendered Tradeoffs, Becky Pettit and Jennifer L. Hook attempt to unveil the paradoxical effects of seemingly egalitarian social policies in 21 countries. The seven chapters, which follow an introductory section, integrate life course theories with microeconomic and comparative explanations for gender inequality among women, men, and families in the home and the workplace. The authors rely on data spanning the years 1969–2000 from the Luxembourg Income Study (LIS), which consists of a collection of over hundred household surveys. After decades of scholars proclaiming the positive effects of social policies, the authors trace the unintended consequences of employment and work–family policies on gender inequality within, and across, countries. These include a decline in work hours and female wages through reduced female labor force participation, the formation of non-egalitarian gender roles and domestic responsibilities, and tradeoffs in long-term economic security. The authors examine gender inequalities in terms of employment and hours worked (Chap. 3, 4, and 7), occupation (Chap. 5), and pay (Chap. 6). They ask if there is a tradeoff between women’s inclusion in the labor market and gender equality within it. The main asset of this book is the integration of cross-national variability in economic outcomes over the life course (e.g., Chap. 3, p. 50, or Chap. 5, p. 99), as well as an analysis of variability in women’s economic standing across twenty-one countries. Each chapter contains a special ‘‘spotlight section’’ using the United States and Germany as examples of different types of policies (e.g., Chap. 3, p. 59, or Chap. 5, p. 114). Chapter 7