To What Extent Can Social Policy Challenge the Dominant Ideology of Mothering? a Cross-National Comparison of Sweden, France and Britain

Abstract

The question of who looks after young chil dren is a function of the social construction of 'mothering'. Although the exact nature and distribution of 'mothering' work changes ac cording to cultural and historical context, mothering has remained inextricably linked to gender. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that fathers' involvement in child care has not increased to match mothers' involvement in the labour force and that women remain the principal carers for children. Given that child care continues to be women's work, the aim of this article is to provide a systematic study of the ways in which different welfare regimes may have helped challenge the dominant ide ology of mothering by fostering a distribution of child care which assists mothers in their em ployment and which gives child care providers social and economic status. This is achieved by investigating mothers' employment patterns, policies towards parenting and child care, child care practices and the status of child care providers in Sweden, France and Britain. These are three countries which all have high rates of women's participation in the labour market but have acknowledged differences in state support for working mothers.