Understanding Family Policy Transformation in the Light of Critical Political Economy

Abstract

Abstract The chapter aims to address the ways by which family policy transformation relates to the political economy of welfare state change and the commodification of social reproduction. The chapter is based on the fact that childcare expansion in the context of family policy transformation is considered a key element in promoting female employment, gender equality, and the conciliation of paid and unpaid work, as well as in mitigating the social reproduction crisis. The author interprets this transformation critically, arguing that family policy transformation—in conjunction with welfare state change—is part of a bidirectional movement: toward commodification (especially for lower-class women) and the liberalization of the labor market, as well as toward increasing freedom from care and domestic tasks for women (especially middle- and upper-class women). The chapter illustrates these two movements by connecting the literature on comparative social policy and on critical political economy.