An investigation of defamilization/familization measures to assist women to save pension income and strengthen the adult worker model—The case of Hong Kong

Abstract

This paper examines the use of defamilization and familization measures to develop an analytical framework to inform the search for ways to improve women's opportunities to accumulate pension income. This framework is associated with the use of the adult worker model. Three main analytical tasks are presented. Firstly, we discuss different interpretations of what defamilization entails. Based on these different views, two types of defamilization measures utilized by the government are identified: care‐focused and economic defamilization. Secondly, with reference to different definitions of the adult worker model, we develop a framework for identifying ways to make the provision of the government's defamilization measures and its alternatives (care‐focused and economic familization measures) more effective in assisting women to accumulate pension income. Thirdly, using the case of Hong Kong, we demonstrate the application of this analytical framework.

Government strategies for supporting the adult worker model in European countries: mixed implications for defamilisation

“…Esping-Andersen (1999) argues that the concept of defamilisation is about reducing households' welfare and care responsibilities. In response to different foci of the defamilisation studies, analysts suggest using different terms to represent different interpretations of defamilisationfor example, 'dedomestication' and 'defamilisation'; 'family-based defamilisation' and 'individual-based defamilisation'; and 'economic defamilisation' and 'care-focused defamilisation' (Kroger, 2011;Lohmann and Zagel, 2016;Yu et al, 2017). In view of these suggestions, we use the terms economic defamilisation and care-focused defamilisation to represent two different interpretations of defamilisation -the former stresses women's economic freedom from the family; the latter puts emphasis on family's freedom from care responsibilities.…”

Defamilisation and familisation risks, adult worker models, and pro-employment/decommodification measures for women: the case of Hong Kong

“…Crucially, this approach treats women as 'workers' but makes allowance for difference by designing transfers and services in respect of care work for partnered and un-partnered mothers alike (Lewis and Giullari, 2005). With reference to this contribution by Lewis and Giullari (2005), the authors in their previous work have distinguished three kinds of adult worker modelsmarket-focused, supported and choice-focused (Yu et al, 2017), whereby:…”

The Policy Measures Used by the Hong Kong Government to Respond to the Adult Worker Model and the Male-breadwinner Model

“…Due to considerable social and demographic changes in Western societies over the past two decades, including a decline in fertility rates and marriage rates and a growing demand for flexible labor force, it is commonly believed that the adult worker model becomes increasingly important in guiding the formulation of policy measures as a substitute for the male-breadwinner model (Daly, 2011;. As a result, there is a rising interest in the search for ways to put the adult worker model into practice (Yu et al, 2017). As shown in the later part of this article, there have been discussions on the relative desirability of different approaches to the adult worker model based on the experiences of the United States and Sweden in Western welfare literature (Lewis & Giullari, 2005).…”