Gender mainstreaming in social policy

Elena Zacharenko and Merita Poni

Chapter 15 in Research Handbook on Gender Mainstreaming, 2026, pp 200-210 from Edward Elgar Publishing

Abstract: This chapter outlines the challenges of mainstreaming gender in social policy in the face of the ambiguity of what gender equality should look like and how to achieve it, the lack of interest in conventional social policy approaches and the lack of political will of core actors to implement solutions, whether costly or not. Through case studies on care and employment from Albania and the European Union, the chapter demonstrates how an economised approach to gender mainstreaming prevents the realisation of a fully transformative gender equality agenda. In view of the growing opposition to gender equality initiatives and the continued challenges of gendered segregation in employment, an unfair division of unpaid care and domestic work and women's economic disadvantages across the globe, the chapter emphasises the need for an extensive redesign of social policies that address complex gendered inequalities.

Keywords: Family; Care; Employment; Social Policy; Work–Life Balance; Welfare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2026
ISBN: 9781035353415
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