Family Policy Dilemmas in Contemporary Nation-States: Are Women Benefited by "Family-Friendly" Governments?

In the 1990s, balancing work and family commitments is increasingly seen as an issue to be pursued at corporation and individual levels, with social policy measures providing at best a basic set of minimum standards. This paper seeks to explore how some of the more exemplary corporations are responding to these challenges, their workers’ experience of family friendly policies, and the extent to which this shift is promoting gender equity. We argue that current trends make it extremely difficult to address the more costly aspects of work and family policy, and that, in spite of innovation in some areas, most policy programs tend to reinforce rather than challenge the tendency for women to take up ‘jobs’ rather than ‘careers’.

Download Full-text

Business versus Families: Whose Side is New Labour on?

Social Policy and Society ◽

10.1017/s1474746402001021 ◽

2002 ◽

Vol 1 (1) ◽

pp. 3-10 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Hartley Dean

Keyword(s):

Low Income ◽

Family Policy ◽

New Labour ◽

Work Life ◽

Small Scale ◽

Welfare To Work ◽

Life Balance ◽

Family Friendly ◽

Working Families ◽

Economic Globalisation

In its proposals for achieving a better ‘work–life balance’ for Britain's working families, the New Labour government is also seeking to balance the interests of business against the needs of families. This article argues that the economic policy ‘trilemma’ resulting from economic globalisation is mirrored in a parallel family policy trilemma, with particular consequences for the poorest families. Drawing upon this argument and, partly, upon illustrative evidence from a small-scale qualitative study of low-income working families, it is suggested that promoting family friendly employment alongside a policy of welfare-to-work cannot reasonably be achieved without significant additional regulation of low-paying employers.

Download Full-text

DONALD TSANG'S PROPOSED FAMILY POLICY COMMISSION: LESSONS FROM HONG KONG AND AMERICAN EXPERIENCES

The Hong Kong Journal of Social Work ◽

10.1142/s0219246207000083 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 41 (01n02) ◽

pp. 97-107

Author(s):

ROBERT E. MITCHELL

Keyword(s):

Hong Kong ◽

Family Life ◽

Family Policy ◽

Advocacy Groups ◽

Family Policies ◽

Work Plan ◽

Family Friendly ◽

History Of ◽

The 1960S ◽

The U.S

Can governments really do anything to strengthen families? What are the implications of different policies for both governments and families? Based on his family-policy responsibilities in Hong Kong and the U.S., the author brings his own personal historical and international lessons of experience for consideration by the proposed Hong Kong commission on family-friendly policies. Competing advocates of family policies might share common historical misunderstandings and value assumptions but they can differ in their definitions of family failure and how government can help families directly through general policies or through problem-specific advocacy groups. In addition to providing the first although abbreviated history of Hong Kong's Urban Family Life Survey of the 1960s, the author proposes three charges to be included in the current commission's terms of reference and work plan.

Download Full-text

Conceptual Approaches in Comparative Family Policy Research

The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy ◽

10.1007/978-3-030-54618-2_6 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 119-139

Author(s):

Hannah Zagel ◽

Henning Lohmann

Keyword(s):

Welfare State ◽

Family Policy ◽

Policy Research ◽

Research Field ◽

Unit Of Analysis ◽

Systematic Overview ◽

State Research ◽

Nation States ◽

Expected Outcomes ◽

Over Time

AbstractThis chapter provides a systematic overview of some of the most widely used concepts in comparative family policy research. We situate the conceptual approaches in their respective research tradition, define the concepts’ main characteristics, and highlight differences and similarities between concepts. All approaches we discuss are rooted in feminist and mainstream comparative welfare state research that considers nation-states as the main unit of analysis. To foreclose some of our conclusions, similarities between the concepts seem often stronger than the differences. However, we show that there are important nuances, which can be critical in drawing comparative conclusions about family policy and its expected outcomes. We argue that some of the conceptual nuances have been blurred over time and this takes its toll on the conceptual rigor in the research field. The chapter provides the basis for informed choices on using one rather than another concept in empirical comparative family policy research.

Download Full-text

Family Policy in the Strategic Planning of Rural Municipalities in the Czech Republic

European Countryside ◽

10.2478/euco-2019-0015 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 11 (3) ◽

pp. 388-403

Author(s):

Helena Hudečková ◽

Jakub Husák ◽

Rudolfina Voleská

Keyword(s):

Czech Republic ◽

Strategic Planning ◽

Family Policy ◽

The Czech Republic ◽

Family Friendly ◽

Rural Municipalities ◽

Favourable Environment ◽

Local Levels

Abstract The paper is focused on Family Policy of rural municipalities. National strategic documents, documents intended for implementation of Family Policy at regional and local levels and local plans/conceptions for Family Policy within municipalities of up to 5,000 inhabitants are analysed. Special attention is paid to the competition: “Family-friendly Community”. Results of the analysis show that this competition does not fulfil its mission, despite the favourable environment for Family Policy within rural municipalities. The results of the study in accordance with generally prevailing opinion show, that it is not efficient to elaborate conceptions of Family Policy within such small municipalities.

Download Full-text

A Conceptualization of Family Friendly Community from the Perspective of Family Policy

Korean Journal of Family Welfare ◽

10.13049/kfwa.2018.23.2.9 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

pp. 337-361

Author(s):

Meejung Chin

Keyword(s):

Family Policy ◽

Family Friendly

Download Full-text

Origins of Family Policy: Prerequisites or Diffusion

10.1007/978-3-030-83403-6_7 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 169-193

Author(s):

Tobias Böger ◽

Keonhi Son ◽

Simone Tonelli

Keyword(s):

Twentieth Century ◽

Family Policy ◽

Maternity Leave ◽

World Society ◽

Family Policies ◽

Nation States ◽

Families With Children ◽

Family Allowances

AbstractVarious instruments to protect families with children from the consequences of industrialization have been introduced in modernizing nation-states at the end of the nineteenth and the beginning of the twentieth century. The global adoption of family policies, such as maternity leave, family allowances, and childcare facilities, followed a wide array of patterns. After being introduced by pioneering countries, some programs spread rapidly throughout Europe, some reached the peripheries of colonial empires and others were only introduced by the newly established nation-states populating world society after decolonization. We provide the first analysis of the disparate origins and spread of family policies, identifying the networks that facilitate their diffusion.

Download Full-text