Work–Family Reconciliation Policy in France

Abstract

This chapter examines the history of French work-family reconciliation policies from the 1970s until the present day. It considers the extent to which the development of these policies does and does not link to second wave feminist ideas about women’s domestic labour that emerged in the 1970s. It argues that while in Scandinavian countries, for example, debates and policies addressing work-family reconciliation debates considered men’s roles in the home as well as women’s employment, in France men’s roles were not addressed. This has meant that while French women today are well integrated into the labour force, and have used a variety of resources available to them to free themselves from domestic and caring responsibilities, men’s role in the family has changed very little in comparison with women’s role in the workforce.