Individual Accommodation Versus Institutional Transformation: Two Paradigms for Reconciling Paid Work and Family Responsibilities

Abstract

Workplace laws and policies on the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities have important human rights consequences. One such impact concerns gender equality, since most studies indicate that women assume a significantly larger share of family obligations. Beyond the particularly negative impacts on women in the labour market, the failure to reconcile work and family life also has detrimental effects on parents, children, families and the community. In this article, two paradigms for reconciling paid work and family obligations are examined, including the individual accommodation and the institutional transformation models. While the individual accommodation paradigm is an essential component of human rights law, it is suggested that an institutional transformation model has greater potential to alleviate the negative effects of family responsibilities on workplace opportunities. Nevertheless, both paradigms are encountering significant obstacles linked to the negative effects of economic restructuring and globalization, and continued institutional resistance to accommodating family obligations in many sectors of the economy.