The position of mothers in a comparative welfare state perspective

Meulders, Danièle; O'Dorchai, Sile Padraigin

doi:10.1017/cbo9780511493409.002

Cited by 10 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…at a fine-grain level their objectives are only partly congruent, calling for different arrays of policy instruments. and the historical backgrounds against which family policies have developed are diverse, particularly as regards the roles of state, family, and labor market: policy responses are shaped by these contexts and by the path dependencies they give rise to (see lewis 1992; Gornick, meyers, and Ross 1997;meulders and o'dorchai 2007).…”

Section: Family Policies In Oecd Countries: a Comparative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Family Policies in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Thévenon

2011

Population & Development Rev

472

372

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This article discusses the diversity of family policy models in 28 OECD countries in terms of the balance between their different objectives and the mix of instruments adopted to implement the policies. Cross-country policy differences are investigated by applying a principal component analysis to comprehensive country-level data from the OECD Family database covering variables such as parental leave conditions, childcare service provision, and financial support to families. The results find persistent differences in the family policy patterns embedded in different contexts of work-family "outcomes." Country classifications of family policy packages only partially corroborate categorizations in earlier studies, owing to considerable within-group heterogeneity and the presence of group outliers. The Nordic countries outdistance the others with comprehensive support to working parents with very young children. Anglo-Saxon countries provide much less support for working parents with very young children, and financial support is targeted on low-income and large families and focuses on preschool and early elementary education. Continental and Eastern European countries form a more heterogeneous group, while the support received by families in Southern Europe and in Asian countries is much lower in all its dimensions.

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Section: Family Policies In Oecd Countries: a Comparative Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Family Policies in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Thévenon

2011

Population & Development Rev

472

372

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“…Care is therefore regarded as a mainly private responsibility. Consequently, the United Kingdom and Ireland have long opposed the European regulation projects concerning maternity and parental leave, as these entitlements were regarded as constraining employers' liberty (Meulders and O'Dorchai 2007). 9 The Mediterranean welfare states, in contrast, have been classified either as immature versions of the conservative welfare state model or as a distinct ''rudimentary'' cluster (Leibfried 1992;Ferrera 1996).…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Types of Public Family Support: A Cluster Analysis of 15 European Countries

Mischke

2011

Journal of Comparative Policy Analysis: Research and Practice

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“…These differences are anchored in a diversity of modes of regulation governing the link between public policies and family solidarity, gender relations and labour market organization. However, the groups of countries identified in terms of the work-family relationship only partly coincide with the broader typology of welfare state regimes proposed by G. Esping-Andersen in the early 1990s (Esping-Andersen G., 1990;Gornick et al, 1997;Thévenon, 2006;Meulders and O'Dorchai, 2007). This typology does not reflect the full range of different labour market behaviours, and the trends observed are relatively contrasting, depending on the scope of the worklife balance policies deployed in each country (OECD, 2007).…”

mentioning

confidence: 93%

Increased Women's Labour Force Participation in Europe: Progress in the Work-Life Balance or Polarization of Behaviours?

Thévenon¹

2009

Population (English Edition)

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Although the increase in female labour force participation is a fairly widespread trend, there is still a considerable diversity of situations across Europe from north to south. To identify the factors that may explain these differences, Olivier Thévenon uses data from the European Labour Force Surveys (EU-LFS) carried out in 14 countries between 1992 and 2005. For comparable educational levels and family situations (e.g. number of children, age of youngest child, single-parent status), the labour market behaviours of European women (inactive, short or long part-time work, full-time work) are very diverse. This diversity reflects differences in government policies targeting working mothers (help with reconciling work and childcare, encouragement to leave the labour market or to work part-time, etc.). In some contexts, women choose to postpone childbirth or to remain childless in order to pursue a working career. The increase in women's labour force participation may thus entail a certain polarization of behaviours.

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The position of mothers in a comparative welfare state perspective

Cited by 10 publications

References 16 publications

Family Policies in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Family Policies in OECD Countries: A Comparative Analysis

Types of Public Family Support: A Cluster Analysis of 15 European Countries

Increased Women's Labour Force Participation in Europe: Progress in the Work-Life Balance or Polarization of Behaviours?

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