scholarly journals Beyond the ‘train-first’/‘work-first’ dichotomy: How welfare states help or hinder maternal employment

2016 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Helen Kowalewska
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Female Parent ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Anglo Saxon ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Family ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
Work First

Since the mid-1990s, welfare states have introduced various ‘activation’ policies designed to promote employment. Most typologies distinguish between a Nordic-style ‘train-first’ approach focused on developing jobseekers’ employability and an Anglo-Saxon ‘work-first’ approach that instead emphasises quick job (re-)entry. These typologies tell us what activation means for the unemployed (male) worker. However, by ignoring the family, they overlook what activation means for the (female) parent-worker with childcare responsibilities. To contribute to filling this gap, this article uses fuzzy-set ideal-type analysis to compare 22 countries representing five ‘worlds’ of welfare by how (de-)activating their labour market policies, parental leave provisions, childcare services and the scheduling of primary education are for lone mothers. It reveals that cross-national variations in support for maternal activation are not well captured by the Nordic-style ‘train-first’/Anglo-Saxon ‘work-first’ dichotomy. Hence, despite the greater attention to gender and ‘new social risks’ within comparative social policy scholarship in recent years, the activation literature remains gender-blind.

Must We All Be Paradigmatic? Social Investment Policies and Liberal Welfare States

2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (3) ◽  
pp. 657-683 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda A. White
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
Investment Strategy ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Investment ◽  
Investment Policies ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
The Family ◽  
Education And Care ◽  
Policies And Programs

Abstract.This article examines whether current shifts in government spending on early childhood education and care (ECEC) and maternal employment-promoting policies such as maternity and parental leave reveal a paradigm shift toward a social investment strategy in liberal welfare states. It finds that while governments in liberal welfare states increasingly adhere to the rhetoric of social investment focused on lifelong learning and labour activation, their policies and programs exhibit so much variation in goals, instruments and settings related to the family, maternal employment and the child that it is difficult to claim that any new policy approach has taken hold that is indicative of a social investment “paradigm.” Instead, liberal welfare states appear to be becoming even more liberal—in terms of reliance on markets for delivery of social investment goals—at the same time as spending is increasing.Résumé.Cet article examine si les changements actuels des dépenses de gouvernement sur la première éducation d'enfance et le soin (ECEC) et les politiques promouvant emploi maternelles comme la maternité et le congé parental révèlent un changement de paradigme vers une stratégie sociale d'investissement dans les Etats-providences libéraux. Il constate que pendant que les gouvernements dans les Etats-providences libéraux adhèrent de plus en plus à la rhétorique d'investissement social s'est concentré sur l'apprentissage de toute une vie et l'activation de la main-d'œuvre, leurs politiques et programmes exposent tant de variation dans les buts, les instruments et les cadres rattachés à la famille, l'emploi maternel et l'enfant qu'il est difficile de réclamer que n'importe quelle nouvelle approche de politique a attrapé qui est indicatif “d'un paradigme” social d'investissement. Au lieu de cela les Etats-providences libéraux ont l'air de devenir encore plus libéraux – du point de vue de la dépendance aux marchés pour la livraison de buts sociaux d'investissement – en même temps comme les dépenses augmentent.

scholarly journals Mothers’ non-standard working and childcare-related challenges

2016 ◽  
Vol 36 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 36-52 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanna Moilanen ◽  
Vanessa May ◽  
Eija Räikkönen ◽  
Eija Sevón ◽  
Marja-Leena Laakso
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Working Hours ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Multivariate Regression Analysis ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Maternal Work ◽  
Lone Mother ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
Country Specific

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to particularly focus on lone-mother families, comparing the childcare-related challenges experienced by working lone mothers and coupled mothers in three European countries in the context of a 24/7 economy and non-standard working hours (e.g. evening, night and weekend work). Design/methodology/approach – This study utilises survey data from Finnish, Dutch and British working mothers (n=1,106) collected as part of the “Families 24/7” research project. Multivariate regression analysis is used to analyse the associations between childcare-related challenges, maternal non-standard working, lone motherhood and country of residence. Findings – The results indicated similar results across the three countries by showing that working lone mothers experience childcare-related challenges more often compared with coupled mothers. Furthermore, an increase in maternal non-standard working associated positively with increased childcare-related challenges in both lone mother and coupled families but lone motherhood did not moderate this association. The findings suggest that, regardless of family form, families in all three countries struggle with childcare arrangements when the mother works during non-standard hours. This possibly relates to the inadequate provision of state-subsidised and flexible formal childcare during non-standard hours and to the country-specific maternal work hours cultures. Originality/value – This study responds to the need for comparative research on the reconciliation of maternal non-standard working and childcare with self-collected data from three European welfare states. The importance of the study is further highlighted by the risks posed to the maintenance of maternal employment and family well-being when reconciliation of work and childcare is unsuccessful, especially in lone-mother families.

Commodification, vulnerability, risk: gendered social policy developments in the United States, 1980–2018

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (1) ◽  
pp. 41-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marie Laperrière ◽  
Ann Shola Orloff ◽  
Jane Pryma
Keyword(s):  
Parental Leave ◽  
Labour Force ◽  
Self Regulation ◽  
Labour Force Participation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Social Risk ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Us ◽  
The 1960S

AbstractOver the last few decades, the position of women vis-à-vis the welfare state has changed dramatically. Welfare states have adapted to women's increased labour force participation and to the “new social risks” that characterize postindustrial societies. In this paper, we examine gendered policy developments in the US, focusing on conceptions of vulnerability that inform policies meant to mitigate gendered social risks. Focusing on three policy areas: parental leave, domestic violence and disability, we show that policies increasingly target women's integration into the workforce and self-regulation as strategies to mitigate gendered social risk. We also discuss how these policies rely on individual interventions implemented by what we call punitive therapy practitioners, who encourage women's workforce participation and psychological self-regulation. Finally, we argue that enduring gendered conceptions of vulnerability have shaped the specific designs of policies that emerged in the 1960s–1970s, intensified through the 1980s, 1990s, and early 2000s, and persist today.

From Housewives to Independent Earners: How the Tax System Can Help Women to Work in a Context of Strong Familialism

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-82 ◽  
Author(s):  
FRANCESCO FIGARI
Keyword(s):  
Labour Supply ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Or Efficiency ◽  
Lone Mothers ◽  
The Family ◽  
Redistributive Effects ◽  
Family Based ◽  
The Cost ◽  
Southern European Countries ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe Southern European countries share a similar welfare system which does not perform well either in terms of equity or efficiency. Using EUROMOD, the EU-wide microsimulation model, this paper evaluates the enhancement of both the redistributive and the incentive effects of the Italian tax-benefit system by introducing either a family-based or an individual in-work benefit, financed through the abolition of the existing tax credit targeted at dependent adults. The results show an increase in the labour supply of women both in couples and lone mothers, in particular among the poorest, with important redistributive effects. The in-work benefits can contribute to the de-familialisation of the Mediterranean welfare states by reducing the reliance on the family and compensating the cost of services.

scholarly journals Work First Versus Human Capital Development in Employability Programs

2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Lindsay
Keyword(s):  
Human Capital ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Human Capital Development ◽  
Holistic View ◽  
Factors Affecting ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Capital Development ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
Work First

Policymakers across advanced welfare states have prioritized programs to enhance the employability of unemployed people and help them to find and sustain work. In this regard, analysts have drawn attention to the difference between Work First and Human Capital Development (HCD) models. The former seek to direct people to any available job as quickly as possible; the latter seek to improve long-term employability through investments in human capital (typically via education and training). This chapter deploys a framework for comparing Work First‒ and HCD-oriented approaches to employability, identifying differences in rationales, content, and outcomes. A key conclusion is that policymakers (and indeed researchers) need to adopt a broader, more holistic view of the factors affecting the unemployed. A better understanding can inform the development of programs that combine Work First and HCD elements and address the problems that explain why some people face prolonged periods excluded from the workplace.

The Family in Minimum Income Benefits in Europe: An Institutional Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 615-642
Author(s):  
Patricia Frericks ◽  
Ralf Och ◽  
Julia Höppner
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
General Trend ◽  
Institutional Analysis ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Minimum Income ◽  
Welfare Benefits ◽  
The Family ◽  
Pension Age ◽  
The Unemployed ◽  
European Welfare States

Abstract Whether and to what extent the means of family members and familial care activities are relevant in the calculation of welfare benefits is often neglected in welfare state analysis. By quantifying qualitative institutional data, we analyze this aspect and how it has changed in regard to minimum-income benefits for persons of pension age and unemployed persons in ten European welfare states. We find no general trend toward individualization of entitlements but a decreasing relevance of family for the entitlements of persons of pension age, and increasing relevance for the unemployed. The evidence underlines significant differences between countries and family-related dimensions.

Social versus Private Insurance

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Pestieau ◽  
Mathieu Lefebvre
Keyword(s):  
Social Insurance ◽  
Private Insurance ◽  
Population Ageing ◽  
Fiscal Competition ◽  
Public Insurance ◽  
The Public ◽  
Social Risks ◽  
The Family ◽  
Private And Public

This chapter looks at the role of the public versus the private sector in the provision of insurance against social risks. After having discussed the evolution of the role of the family as support in the first place, the specificity of social insurance is emphasized in opposition to private insurance. Figures show the extent of spending on both private and public insurance and the chapter presents economic reasons to why the latter is more developed than the former. Issues related to moral hazard and adverse selection are addressed. The chapter also discusses somewhat more general arguments supporting social insurance such as population ageing, unemployment, fiscal competition and social dumping.

The impact of an unconditional parental benefit on employment of mothers

2017 ◽  
Vol 37 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 33-50 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anna Kurowska
Keyword(s):  
Maternal Employment ◽  
Parental Leave ◽  
School Age Children ◽  
Employment Rate ◽  
School Age ◽  
Older Children ◽  
Cultural Economic ◽  
Similar System ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to solve the puzzle of the disproportionately lower employment rate of mothers of toddlers with relation to the employment rate of mothers of preschool and school-age children in Estonia. Design/methodology/approach The research is based on the Most Similar System Design and compares Estonia with Lithuania. The applied methods include inferential statistics and microsimulation techniques, employing the OECD Benefits and Wages Calculator, the OECD Family Support Calculator and EUROMOD – the European tax-benefit microsimulation model. Findings The comparison revealed that the overwhelming majority of the crucial aspects of socio-cultural, economic and institutional conditions were more favourable for maternal employment in Estonia than in Lithuania. This explains the higher maternal employment rates both for mothers of pre-schoolers and school-age children in Estonia. However, one particular element of the institutional context targeted to the mothers of toddlers – the unconditional parental benefit – had an entirely opposite character. This particular feature of the parental leave scheme was the only factor that could explain why the employment rate of mothers of toddlers is disproportionately lower than the employment rate of mothers of older children in Estonia and much lower than the employment of mothers of toddlers in Lithuania. Originality/value This study complements previous research by providing evidence on the relative importance of universal parental benefit schemes in the context of other country-specific conditions for maternal employment, including the availability of institutional childcare. Furthermore, the results presented show that childcare regime typologies, at least those that characterise Eastern European countries, should be more sensitive to children’s age.

scholarly journals Conflictive preferences towards social investments and transfers in mature welfare states: The cases of unemployment benefits and childcare provision

2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 229-246 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marius R. Busemeyer ◽  
Erik Neimanns
Keyword(s):  
Welfare State ◽  
European Social Survey ◽  
Welfare States ◽  
Political Support ◽  
Government Support ◽  
Unemployment Benefit ◽  
Public Provision ◽  
Political Conflicts ◽  
Policy Fields ◽  
The Unemployed

This article explores potential cleavages and conflicts between political support coalitions of social investment versus classical social transfer policies. To that extent, we analyse international survey data from the European Social Survey (ESS) for 21 European countries. Our central finding is that different welfare state beneficiary groups perceive and react negatively to increased government involvement in policy fields from which they do not benefit themselves: single parents are more likely to oppose government support for the unemployed when long-term replacement rates in the unemployment benefit scheme are high. Vice versa, the unemployed are less likely to support the public provision of childcare services if the latter is already well-funded. This finding has implications for the study of welfare states in general because it implies that in mature welfare states, political conflicts may be less about the welfare state as such, but about the distribution of welfare state services and benefits between different groups of beneficiaries.

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