Work-family Reconciliation Policies Research Articles

A Study of Work-Family Reconciliation Policy and Freedom of Choice

A Study of Work-Family Reconciliation Policy and Freedom of Choice

Work–family reconciliation policies without equal opportunities? The case of Austria

This paper explores the main public work–family policies in Austria (parental leave in connection with the Childcare Benefit, parents’ entitlement to part-time work, the extension of the childcare infrastructure) from the perspective of social justice using the normative concepts of gender equality, recognition, and choice. The main results show that for the most part, these policies offer affirmative recognition of maternal care and limited employment of mothers but offer little support for transformative recognition, particularly in terms of increasing the social status of working mothers and fathers as carers. Austrian work–family policies also do little to redistribute incomes and career opportunities from men to women and childcare from women to men; instead, they grant only limited freedom to choose between parental duties and employment, and the (financial) support they do offer is strongly concentrated on early childhood. All in all, the construction of the parental leave system (together with the Childcare Benefit), the entitlement to work part time, shortfalls in public childcare structures, and the lack of awareness of gendered (cultural and material) structures on the labour market and within families do not actively encourage gender equality. Some aspects of these policies even stabilise and deepen gendered structures on the labour market and in families.

Understanding low fertility in Poland

Abstract After the state socialist regime of Poland collapsed in 1989, the nation's total fertility rate plummeted from 2.1 to 1.27 by 2007. Simultaneously, Poland severely reduced social service provisions and restricted access to family planning. A three-month mixed-methods research study was conducted in 2007 in Gdansk to investigate Polish women's reproductive intentions and decision making. These data reveal that discriminatory practices by employers against pregnant women and women with small children are decisive in women's decisions to postpone or forego childbearing. The case of Poland demonstrates the urgent need to redress fundamental gendered discrimination in employment before work-family reconciliation policies can be effective. 1. Introduction: Eastern Europe and fertility decline In recent decades fertility has declined in most locations around the world, with the notable exception of sub-Saharan Africa. After the fall of state socialism in Eastern Europe in 1989, the region's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) began to decline rapidly and recently fell to one of the lowest levels in the world. Eastern European nations currently constitute the majority of what are termed very low fertility countries, i.e., with TFR below 1.5. Eastern Europe is by no means politically, economically, or culturally heterogeneous and scholars have demonstrated the different permutations of socialism experienced in the region. Yet, the shared history of state socialism and similar global economic pressures to which these nations have been subjected result in many common post-1989 experiences that are significantly associated with fertility decline. As a capital-poor system, state socialism relied heavily on labor and created an inflexible employment structure that provided a great deal of job security with virtually no threat of unemployment. This was especially significant for women who were for the first time able to easily enter the job market, interrupt their work for childbearing, and return to the safety of their jobs with minimal or no loss of wages. Simultaneously, and consistent with the socialist gender equity rhetoric, the state greatly expanded women's access to education and reproductive rights (except in Romania), and established extensive state infant and childcare provisions. Food was relatively inexpensive and healthcare was free, although not always adequate. Consequently, gender relations were significantly reconfigured as women pursued careers, financial independence, and greater reproductive and sexual autonomy. The socialist state established itself as the benevolent father providing for the basic welfare of all (Verdery 1996:24). Women; however, were the major beneficiaries. Following the collapse of state socialism in 1989, Eastern European nations underwent profound economic transformations, shifting from the security provided by generous welfare states with guaranteed education and employment to the instability of free market economies marked by large scale deregulation. The policies which had been critical in encouraging women's entry into paid employment began to be rapidly dismantled. In particular, maternity leave and subsidies for childcare were substantially reduced, and efforts to privatize healthcare placed fees on many essential services. Employment was no longer guaranteed, unemployment soared and preferential hiring practices began to favor applicants with inside connections. Job opportunities became elusive and required greater dedication of time, making planning one's future more difficult. It is within this context that scholars began to describe demographic trends such as the postponement of childbearing and marriage, higher divorce rates, greater numbers of extra-marital births, and an increase in cohabitation (Caldwell and Schindlmayr 2003; Dey 2006; Fratczak 2004b; Sobotka et al. 2003; Sobotka 2004). In the past high female unemployment and employment structures that deterred women from working have been associated with higher fertility. …

Creating Gender Egalitarian Societies: An Agenda for Reform

In this article, we describe the social and economic changes that have contributed to contemporary problems of work—family conflict, gender inequality, and risks to children's healthy development. We draw on feminist welfare state scholarship to outline an institutional arrangement that would support an earner—carer society —a social arrangement in which women and men engage symmetrically in paid work and unpaid caregiving and where young children have ample time with their parents. We present a blueprint for work—family reconciliation policies in three areas—paid family-leave provisions, working-time regulations, and early childhood education and care—and we identify key policy design principles. We describe and assess these work—family reconciliation policies as they operate in six European countries widely considered to be policy exemplars: Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Belgium, and France. We close with an analysis of potential objections to these policies.

The regulation of working time as work-family reconciliation policy: Comparing Europe, Japan, and the United States

This article compares working time policies in eight European countries, Japan, and the US, specifically policies that embody three goals: (1) reducing the full-time working week to less than the traditional standard of 40 hours; (2) guaranteeing workers an adequate number of paid days, annually, away from the workplace; and (3) raising the quality and availability of voluntary part-time work. While working time policies can help to free up parental caregiving time, they also have some potentially problematic consequences – including an associated rise in nonstandard-hour scheduling and the possibility of negative effects on gender equality.

Working Time and Work and Family Conflict in the Netherlands, Sweden and the Uk

This article presents evidence on working time flexibility and the experience of work and family conflict in the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK, using data from a comparable questionnaire. We find that the experience of balancing work and family life in the different countries yields some surprising and paradoxical results. This is particularly the case in Sweden where, despite the establishment of gender equality and work–family reconciliation policies, we find that higher proportions of both mothers and fathers than in the other two countries report a conflict between their work and family lives. In the Netherlands and the UK it is fathers rather than mothers who are more likely to report conflicting pressures between work and family life. In each country these experiences are related to the hours of work of women and men, but in the context of different working-time regimes and with different compromises and solutions to the unresolved tensions surrounding the conciliation of work and family life.