Creating Gender Egalitarian Societies: An Agenda for Reform

Janet C. Gornick and Marcia K. Meyers
Additional contact information
Janet C. Gornick: Political Science and Sociology at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York, janet_gornick@baruch.cuny.edu, Luxembourg Income Study
Marcia K. Meyers: Social Work and Public Affairs at the University of Washington, mkm36@u.washington.edu, West Coast Poverty Center

Politics & Society, 2008, vol. 36, issue 3, 313-349

Abstract: 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.

Keywords: employment; care giving; gender equality; divisions of labor (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (24)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:polsoc:v:36:y:2008:i:3:p:313-349

DOI: 10.1177/0032329208320562

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