Policy Discourses on ‘Reconciling Work and Life’ in the EU

Abstract

This paper outlines the development EU policy discourse on`the reconciliation of work and family life'. This imposes a policy disjuncture on New Labour, for, while the British government may be ideologically more attracted to the liberal US model of`¯exible' labour, it is bound by EU law to implement a more corporatist gender equality model. The paper notes how themes of economic competition, democratisation, and protecting gender contracts emerged at the foundation EU gender policy. It traces these themes into an`equal opportunities at work' discourse during the 1970s and 1980s and, with the increasing importance of the`demographic time bomb' discourse and of Scandinavian style gender equality, into discourses stressing the`reconciliation of paid work with family life' and gender mainstreaming. The paper ends by addressing the`half-empty or half-full' assessments of EU gender policy.

Framing the Organisation of Intimacy as a Policy Problem Across Europe

“…Here, not the gendered division of labour is the problem, but rather, the ungendering of the division of labour is described as a negative process that should be reversed. Here the findings of our analysis are in line with the study of Duncan (2002), and the frame is linked to the «demographic time bomb discourse», and especially to negative policy responses. The element of putting a higher value to care and to housework is found only in connection to this frame.…”

What's the problem with teenage parents? And what's the problem with policy?

“…Education and employment for young parents should be recognised as a components of parenting (which could also include "full-time" mothering at home), rather than as a return to individualised rational economic planning where children are seen as an obstacle. This conclusion is not unlike that made by other critical accounts of New Labour"s "family policy" (eg Duncan andEdwards 1999, Williams 2004). Policy may also be better directed at improving employment for young people as a whole in declining labour markets, and regenerating disadvantaged neighbourhoods, rather than targeting teen parenting in itself.…”

“…Rather, self-esteem and identity are centred round motherhood; paid work is important more as a secondary and supportive part of life. In this way teenage mothers are little different from many other mothers who morally and socially prioritise motherhood, not employment -however useful the latter may be (see Duncan andEdwards 1999, Duncan et al 2003). This is different in many middle class families, in what has been called an alternative "slow lane" to motherhood (Graham and McDermott, 2005).…”

“…This parallels research showing that decisions by mothers about how to combine mothering and employment usually reflect socially negotiated judgments about what is morally right. In this way a socially constructed "gendered moral rationality" pre-empts and incorporates an individual "economic rationality" (Duncan andEdwards 1999, Duncan et al 2003). Furthermore, these gendered moral rationalities, and hence the type of decision made, vary between different class, ethnic and social groups of mother.…”

Work–life Balance and Working from Home

“…In recent years a new discourse surrounding the work-life balance has emerged replacing family friendly policies (Bryson et al, 2000;DTI, 2001aDTI, , 2002Duncan, 2002;Dean, 2002;Hogarth et al, 2001;Williams, 2000). According to the DTI regardless of age, race or gender, everyone can find a rhythm to help them combine work with their other responsibilities or aspirations, and the work-life balance involves adjusting working patterns in ways which allow people to achieve this rhythm.…”