Correction to: Policies for Later-Life Families in a Comparative European Perspective

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Conceptualizing National Family Policies: A Capabilities Approach

Comparative family policy research has advanced significantly in recent years. The growing availability of more and better data have improved our understanding of cross-national similarities and differences in family policies, as well as how they shape the lives of different families. Despite these advancements, comparative family policy research continues to face difficulties. The multifaceted nature of family policies makes cross-country comparisons complex. Conceptualizing our theoretical understanding of which policy aspects matter and why as well as operationalizing them into measurable indicators, often remains problematic for comparative analyses. Using examples of British and Swedish policies on childcare, a policy area particularly prone to conceptual challenges, we discuss the difficulties involved in conceptualizing family policies in comparative research. We argue that taking a capabilities approach provides a useful way forward in the field and show how such a conceptual framework allows us to more meaningfully analyze both work-family policies and their outcomes.

How Well Do European Child-Related Leave Policies Support the Caring Role of Fathers?

Our chapter analyses the extent to which European countries (1) recognize the caring responsibilities of fathers toward their children and (2) value fathers’ caring role. To do so, we analyze the designs of individual leave policies and reflect on them by assessing available data on leave uptake by fathers in 13 European countries. Our results show that there is great variation in child-related leave designs across Europe. Our findings, in line with previous work, underscore the importance of generous individual non-transferable leave entitlements. Moreover, our findings bring forward aspects of leave designs that are rarely discussed when considering fathers’ leave uptake. Our results indicate that generous non-transferable leave rights should be paired with (a) clearly defined leave periods for fathers, (b) individual entitlement to benefits, and (c) greater scope for flexibility to increase the attractiveness of child-related leave and to strengthen fathers’ position when negotiating their childcare leave.

Parentalization of Same-Sex Couples: Family Formation and Leave Rights in Five Northern European Countries

This chapter introduces the concept of parentalization, defined as the ability to become parents and be recognized as such, both legally and via social policies. Applying the concept to same-sex couples, we examine how states may facilitate or hinder the transition to parenthood through laws and policies in five Northern European countries; Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Trends in the number of children zero years of age in married/cohabiting same-sex couples suggest a link between parentalization and realized parenthood. As partly indicated by these trends, parentalization is a gendered concept, and parenthood is more readily available to some couples than to others. Perhaps most importantly, very few same-sex couples have been able to jointly adopt a child. The fact that married female couples face fewer barriers to parentalization than other non-traditional couples partly reflects dominant norms on gender and motherhood.

Breaking the Liberal-Market Mold? Family Policy Variation Across U.S. States and Why It Matters

Drawing from U.S. state legislative documents, this chapter examines the development of subnational leave policies across states and over time. The research identifies 72 leave laws adopted by states between 1942 and 2017 and shows how some states are more active than others. In comparison to other countries, states quickly abandoned female-targeted policies in favor of gender-neutral, individual entitlements, and leave rights in the United States can be uniquely distinguished by whether they provide time-off to address medical or caregiving needs. I argue that American lawmakers have an opportunity to layer wage-replacement benefits on top of preexisting, gender-neutral and individual entitlements to job-protected leave in a step toward gender-egalitarian family policy models found in other countries.

Private Childcare and Employment Options: The Geography of the Return to Work for Mothers in the Netherlands

The Netherlands provides extensive and flexible support for young parents and met the Barcelona targets for childcare provision even before they were set. Yet childcare isn’t evenly distributed, and provision is better for some than for others. We use the NKPS to examine childcare availability and its association with maternal employment. To enrich this analysis, respondents are geocoded and this enables them to be linked to the Landelijk Register Kinderopvang en Peuterspeelzalen (Register for Childcare and Toddler Groups; www.landelijkregisterkinderopvang.nl). In linking this data, three often neglected dimensions of childcare provision are captured. First, at the most basic level the geographic proximity of childcare services is captured (i.e. distance to nearest provider). Second, the intensity or availability of choice is measured (i.e. number of providers within 2 kms). Third, the diversity of options is measured (i.e. the ratio of different types of providers).

Conclusion: The Next Decade of Family Policy Research

Based on the multilevel perspective on family policy research brought together in this handbook, this chapter highlights five major societal challenges for the future outlook and outcomes of family policies, and reflects on what the handbook teaches us about how to effectively address these challenges, as well as what there is yet to learn. The challenges pertain to the (1) levels of policy implementation, and in particular globalization and decentralization, (2) austerity and marketization, (3) economic inequality, (4) changing family relations, and (5) welfare states adapting to women’s empowered roles. The chapter concludes by examining what lessons were learned, and are yet to learn, regarding the capacity of family policies to cope with shocks of various kinds and to support families during extraordinary times.

Going Regional: Local Childcare Provision and Parental Work–Care Choices in Germany

This chapter argues that analyzing regional and local institutional variations has great potential for generating new insights on the drivers of family policy reforms as well as on mechanisms how policies affect families’ choices and well-being. Drawing on the case of Germany and focusing on early childhood education and care (ECEC) services, this chapter first describes regional variations in ECEC provision and take-up. It then reviews theoretical perspectives and empirical evidence on drivers of regional policy variations. Next, the chapter proposes a framework for investigating socially stratified work–care choices of parents at subnational levels by connecting a macro–micro rational choice perspective with the capability approach and the accommodation model of childcare choices. After reviewing the evidence on the effects of regional ECEC variations on social inequalities in take-up, maternal employment, and work–family balance, the chapter concludes by pointing to research gaps and new frontiers of regional family policy analysis.

Beyond the National: How the EU, OECD, and World Bank Do Family Policy

In recent decades, numerous international organizations have adopted positions that use components of a policy frame familiar from family policy at the national level. They sought to advance one or more of three classic goals of that domain: stabilizing demography, ensuring income security, and supporting parents’ labor force participation. This chapter tracks the last several decades of policy action in three international organizations—the European Union, the OECD, and the World Bank. It documents the changing interventions of each organization that touch on these three goals, whether or not the organization claims to be committed to having family policy. The analysis focuses in particular on the expressed policy goal(s), the targets and policy instruments, and the policy frame used to justify each. The main finding is that despite different trajectories over time the three share processes leading to non-familialization via greater emphasis on individuals and often children.

Introduction: A Multilevel Perspective on Family Policy

This chapter introduces a multilevel perspective on family policy, ranging from family policies at the levels of supra-national (and inter-national) organizations such as the United Nations, OECD, and the European Union; national or federal policies and legislation; the subnational municipalities, states, or regions in which people live; and finally the organizations or in which people work. At each of these levels of governance, family policies are formulated, voted for, implemented, and carried out—or not. And it is this whole set of multi-level policies that ultimately affect families’ and individuals’ choices, opportunities, constraints, and capability in terms of work, care, and wellbeing. This handbook brings together research on each of these four levels, is sensitive to heterogeneous policy impacts, and brings together scholars from different academic communities.