Politicising parenthood in Scandinavia: Gender relations in welfare states

POLITICISING PARENTHOOD IN SCANDINAVIA - Gender relations in welfare states......Page 2
Contents......Page 4
List of boxes, figures and tables......Page 6
Acknowledgements......Page 9
List of contributors......Page 10
ONE - Introduction: politicising parenthood in Scandinavia......Page 12
Why consider the Scandinavian model – again?......Page 13
Politicising parenthood......Page 15
Gender equality – the Scandinavian way......Page 17
Families, gender equality and welfare states – research and politics......Page 19
The context of policy reform......Page 20
Data – cases and comparisons......Page 21
The contributions......Page 22
Part One - Politicising parenthood – legacies and challenges......Page 36
TWO - Parenthood change and policy reform in Scandinavia, 1970s-2000s......Page 38
Parenthood policies and family models......Page 39
Changing parenthood – a Scandinavian backdrop......Page 41
Childcare policy packages: 1970s-2000s......Page 45
Childcare defamilised: state-sponsored childcare services......Page 46
Childcare refamilised 1: parental leave......Page 49
Childcare refamilised 2: cash benefits for childcare......Page 51
Parenthood change and policy reform......Page 53
Parenthood policies: from responsibilities to social rights......Page 57
Policies of parenthood and fertility......Page 64
The Nordic model(s) of family welfare – pluralism with common denominators......Page 65
Contrasting fertility trends......Page 67
Policy impacts on fertility – hypotheses and findings......Page 69
Is there a Nordic pattern of fertility?......Page 71
Converging patterns at cohort level......Page 74
Sustainable fertility – a challenge for Nordic gender equality......Page 77
FOUR - Nordic men on parental leave: can the welfare state change gender relations?......Page 90
Fathers’ rights to leave......Page 91
High popularity of short leave periods......Page 94
Marginal but not marginalised: socioeconomic patterns of take-up......Page 96
Negotiations in families......Page 98
What do they say at the workplace?......Page 100
Outdoor daddies and household work......Page 102
Mother’s choice?......Page 104
Do parenthood policies change gender relations?......Page 105
Introduction......Page 112
Agenda setting and the contest over meaning......Page 114
Changes in family structures and women’s position in the 1960s and 1970s......Page 115
Universalist childcare provision......Page 117
Gender equality policy: a political niche......Page 118
Maternity and paternity leave on the political agenda,1901-971......Page 121
Daddy leave 1997-2001 – from low to high politics......Page 122
The public–private split......Page 126
Gender equality policy paradoxes......Page 127
SIX - The Norwegian childcare regime and its paradoxes......Page 132
The right to work versus the right to care......Page 133
Institutionalising ‘separate spheres’: parental leave......Page 135
‘Free choice’: cash for care......Page 140
The unrecognised ‘care squeeze’: childcare services......Page 143
Childcare paradoxes and gender relations......Page 146
Introduction......Page 156
Rationales of parenthood policies......Page 157
What do the parents want? The case of parental leave......Page 160
Whose passion for what equality?......Page 165
More contradictory rationales in the future?......Page 172
Part Three - Work, family and the welfare state: redefining family models......Page 180
EIGHT - Woman-friendliness and economic depression: Finland and Sweden in the 1990s......Page 182
Woman-friendliness in Sweden and Finland......Page 183
Taxation of families with children......Page 186
Universal child benefits......Page 190
Paid parental leave in the 1990s......Page 191
Public provision of day care and home care allowance......Page 197
Developments in the early 2000s......Page 198
Conclusions......Page 199
Introduction......Page 206
Working time – differentiation and polarisation......Page 208
Policies supporting working parents......Page 215
Gender equality – division of work and care responsibilities......Page 218
Gender equality for all parents......Page 222
Introduction......Page 228
Policies of parenthood in Finland and Sweden......Page 230
Parents’ response to parenthood policies......Page 233
Mothers’ and fathers’ employment and unemployment......Page 234
Mothers’ contribution to household income......Page 241
Towards temporary homemakers, or a more robust dual-earner/dual-carer model?......Page 244
Introduction......Page 252
Lone parents: the welfare state, labour market and family support......Page 255
The 1990s: a tale of three countries......Page 257
Recession and recovery I: Sweden......Page 258
Recession and recovery II: Finland......Page 260
Lone parents as targets of activation policies: Norway......Page 263
Welfare state, labour market, family – new boundaries?......Page 266
Why are lone mothers disadvantaged in the labour market?......Page 267
Conclusion......Page 270
TWELVE - Epilogue: Scandinavian policies of parenthood – a success story?......Page 276
From welfare state crisis to internal ‘enemies’......Page 279
Parental ‘choice’ – confronting gender equality......Page 280
Policies for whose needs – mothers’, fathers’ or children’s?......Page 283
Dismantling gender equality?......Page 284
Index......Page 290