Working Parents and the Welfare State

Family Change and Policy Reform in Scandinavia

• Author(s): Arnlaug Leira,
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Pages: 182
• ISBN_10: 0521571294
  ISBN_13: 9780521571296
  
• Language: en
• Categories: Family & Relationships / General , Political Science / Public Policy / Social Services & Welfare , Political Science / Public Policy / Social Policy , Social Science / Sociology / General , Social Science / Sociology / Marriage & Family , Social Science / Gender Studies ,

Description:... The mass entry of women into the labor market, the decline of the male breadwinner norm and the rise of the dual-earner family have all profoundly transformed the societies of the Western industrialized world. This book argues that childcare has become increasingly "defamilized" or collectivized as mothers have joined the labor market, causing significant impact on welfare policies. As a result, the complex relationship between family change and policy reform calls for a rethinking of the relationship between the welfare state, labor markets and working parents. Rather than concentrating on the changing models of motherhood, Leira advocates the need to consider the effects of the gendered division of work and welfare on fathers' opportunities to be supported as carers for children.