scholarly journals Freedom and Gender Equality in EU Family Policy Tools

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Lucie Novotna

The aim of this article is to look critically at the implications of gender equality concepts for individual freedom as conceptualised by the philosopher Isaiah Berlin. The scientific literature addressing the problem of freedom and gender equality with regard to public policy is considerably fragmented. Based on contextual literature, this article will offer four concepts of freedom that serve as analytical categories. I will analyse work/family reconciliation policy tools as introduced at the level of the European Union and reconnect them to three traditions of gender equality. The article reflects on historically embedded dichotomy between positive and negative freedom visible in gendered distinction between public and private. The main findings show that the relationship between freedom and equality is mediated by the selected policy tools suggesting that some policy tools expand freedom of all individuals while others indicate a possible limit for freedom.

2016 ◽  
Vol 13 (5) ◽  
pp. 435-455 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janet P. Stamatel

This study utilized a fairly new measure of gender equality from the European Union to dissect the relationship between gender-specific homicide victimization rates and different forms of gender equality across a sample of European countries. Results showed support for a curvilinear relationship between financial equality and female and male homicide victimization, providing support for amelioration and backlash theories, but no support for absolute economic marginalization. While there were some similarities between the female and male models, there were enough differences to warrant further investigations of gendered theories of violent victimization.


2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (02) ◽  
pp. 373-388
Author(s):  
Oksana Vinska ◽  
Volodymyr Tokar

Purpose – The article aims at discovering classes and clusters of EU member-states considering their levels of economic development and gender equality to foster the enhancement of EU cohesion policy. Research methodology – The methodology includes the grouping by two parameters, economic development and gender equality, and the cluster analysis, the “far neighbor principle”, agglomerative hierarchical classification algorithm and the usual Euclidean distance as the distance between objects. Findings – There are no gender equality laggards among EU member-states. More developed countries belong to gender equality leaders, while there are two gender equality leaders and one gender equality adopter among transition countries. The group of less developed countries consists of six gender equality leaders and seven gender equality adopters. Research limitations – The results of cluster analysis may be impacted by off-shore activity of Ireland and Luxembourg. Practical implications – The EU supranational bodies can use our results to develop more efficient cohesion policy tools to ensure the adherence to the principle of gender equality. Originality/Value – The study is a pioneer one in determining nine classes and five clusters of EU member-states considering their levels of economic development and gender equality, as well as in introducing three types of countries depending on their level of gender equality, namely gender equality leaders, adopters, and laggards.


Author(s):  
Dave Ayre

This chapter assesses the history of the relationship between public and private sectors and the extent to which the political and regulatory environment of governments and institutions such as the European Union (EU) can help or hinder the efforts of public bodies in seeking to deliver services that determine the health and quality of life for communities. The relationship of public and private sectors in the United Kingdom (UK) and the commissioning, procurement, and development of public–private partnerships is driven by the prevailing political and economic environment. However, rigorous academic research on the benefits of partnering to organisations, societies and between countries is limited. Evidence is needed to fill the policy vacuum. A bolder approach is necessary to work with public and private sectors to develop and implement successful partnering alternatives to the outsourcing of public services. The growing catalogue of outsourcing failures in construction, probation, rail franchising, health, and social care is creating an appetite for change, and the exit of the UK from the EU provides the opportunity.


Author(s):  
Safak Oz Aktepe

In this chapter, the author aims to present, through a review of literature, that the gender equality assumption of the human resource management (HRM) approach is not taken for granted. It seems there exist two sides of the same coin, one representing the HRM approach and the other representing the gendered approach to HRM practices. This chapter reviews HRM practices in work organizations as the potential facilitator of gender inequalities in organizations. In addition, the contentious function of HRM practices in maintaining gender inequalities within work organizations is reviewed. In spite of knowing the implication of HRM practices on being a gender-diverse organization, there remain few studies on the relationship between HRM practices and gender inequality in work organizations. Such research will add a different perspective to HRM practices and contribute to the awareness related to the gendered nature of organizations and their organizational practices.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (6) ◽  
pp. 385-408 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gayle Kaufman ◽  
Hiromi Taniguchi

This study examines the relationship between gender ideology at the individual level, gender equality at the country level, and women and men’s experiences of work interference with family (WIF) and family interference with work (FIW). We use data from the 2012 International Social Survey Programme as well as the 2011 to 2015 Human Development Reports. Our sample consists of 24,547 respondents from 37 countries. Based on multilevel mixed-effects logistic models, we find that women are more likely than men to experience WIF and FIW. At the individual level, traditional gender ideology positively predicts WIF and FIW. Women and men who reside in more gender-unequal countries have a higher likelihood of FIW while men in these contexts also are more likely to experience WIF. Societal gender inequality is more consequential for those who hold less traditional gender ideology. In conclusion, gender egalitarianism at the individual level and gender equality at the country level are both associated with less WIF and FIW. Policies that seek to address work–family balance should incorporate measures to promote gender equality.


Author(s):  
Vera Lomazzi ◽  
Isabella Crespi

The introductory chapter aims at presenting the most important aspects of the book exploring the European policy strategy for gender equality, known as gender mainstreaming. The book focuses on the historical and socioeconomic changes in Europe regarding gender mainstreaming strategy and gender equality as a concept, while previous contributions focused only on specific aspects (legislation, economy, and politics).Furthermore, the connection between the institutional level of policymaking and the local implementation of European laws in the field of gender equality is an innovative issue because that was not so often connected with the topic of the gender culture of European societies or with their individual opinions/attitudes on gender roles. Lastly, the book explores innovative intersections between the fields of gender policies and survey research in order to investigate how GM policies affect regional gender cultures. In this way the issue of gender mainstreaming is observed as an ‘evergreen’ topicin the context of the changing beliefs, social structure, economics and political configuration of the European Union from the beginning till now, and with some critical points to be addressed for the future (such as economic crises, migration and integration process).


Author(s):  
Hannah Zagel ◽  
Zachary Van Winkle

Abstract This article examines longitudinal patterns of work–family reconciliation across Europe and whether the influence of defamilizing policies on those patterns is contingent on the normative context. Data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement and sequence analysis are used to reconstruct and analyze women’s family and employment life courses from age fifteen to fifty years, born in the period between 1924 and 1966 from fourteen countries. Historic family policy data and gender attitudes collected in the International Social Survey Programme are included in multinomial regressions. Results suggest that defamilization and gender egalitarianism increase the labor market attachment of women with traditional family life courses independently.


1996 ◽  
Vol 21 (04) ◽  
pp. 857-899
Author(s):  
Julie Novkov

During the Progressive Era, the U. S. state and federal courts considered constitutional challenges to protective labor legislation. While courts often struck down generalized protective legislation, they frequently upheld such legislation for women. I explore the reasoning in the cases decided between 1897 and 1923, showing that the courts developed understandings of liberty for women that differed from those for men. In opposition to traditional separate spheres reasoning, I show that the courts viewed men's exercise of liberty as depending on their private capacities to be free, while women's labor was subject to public control due to state interest in their reproductive capacities. I suggest that constitutional theorists who are studying substantive due process should place more emphasis on courts'conceptions of the subjects of due process guarantees rather than considering solely the challenged statutes' restriction of liberty. I develop a dynamic and complex understanding of liberty to capture this aspect of the relationship between constitutional theory and gender.


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