The Nordic Countries in Comparative Perspective
E-Book, Deutsch, 209 Seiten, eBook
ISBN: 978-3-531-90895-3
Verlag: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften
Format: PDF
Kopierschutz: Wasserzeichen (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
Christoph Schmitt teaches social policy at the Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Faculty of Social Science.
Zielgruppe
Research
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
1;Table of Contents;6
2;Foreword;8
3;Introduction;10
3.1;1. Aim of the Volume;10
3.2;2. Countries selected for comparison;10
3.3;3. The context of convergence: family, labour market and welfare state change;12
3.4;4. Benchmark ‘Scandinavia’?;13
3.5;5. Family change, parental employment and poverty rates in the Nordic countries, the Netherlands, Germany and the UK – an overview;15
3.6;6. Changing fertility patterns, decreasing fertility rates and declining fertility aspirations;20
3.7;8. Employment change;25
3.8;9. Changing attitudes towards gender roles and female employment;28
3.9;10. Parental employment and child poverty;31
3.10;11. Taking stock;32
3.11;12. The Contributions;33
3.12;Appendix;34
4;Family Policy. The Case of Sweden;38
4.1;1. Introduction;38
4.2;2. The right (not) to have children Abortion law and policy;40
4.3;3. Rights and obligations;41
4.4;4. The costs and benefits of having children;45
4.5;5. Childcare;47
4.6;6. Parental leave;51
4.7;7. Conclusion;54
5;Current Issues of Family Policy in Denmark;58
5.1;1. Introduction;58
5.2;2. The right (not) to have children;60
5.3;3. Parents’ and children’s rights and obligations;61
5.4;4. Childcare;63
5.5;5. Parental Leave;70
5.6;6. Cash Benefits for Families with Children;71
5.7;7. Pensions in a gender perspective;73
5.8;8. Conclusion;74
6;Family Policies in Finland;76
6.1;1. Introduction;76
6.2;2. A brief history of Finnish family policy;77
6.3;3. The right to have children;79
6.4;4. Prenatal and mother-child clinics;80
6.5;5. Rights and obligations;81
6.6;6. The Finnish family policy system in the 2000s;83
6.7;7. Conclusion;87
7;Family Policies in Norway;90
7.1;1. Introduction;90
7.2;2. The right (not) to have children;91
7.3;3. Parental rights and obligations;92
7.4;4. Childcare;95
7.5;5. Parental leave, the right to care;99
7.6;6. Cash benefits and taxes for families;103
7.7;7. Conclusion;107
8;Family Policy in Iceland: An Overview;110
8.1;1. Introduction;110
8.2;2. The right (not) to have children;112
8.3;3. Rights and Obligations;113
8.4;4. The costs and benefits of having children;117
8.5;5. Family-Friendly labour market;119
8.6;6. Conclusion;125
9;Family Policies in the UK;130
9.1;1. Introduction;130
9.2;2. The right (not) to have children;132
9.3;3. Parental rights and obligations;133
9.4;4. A family-friendly labour market?;137
9.5;5. Leave from paid work to care for children;146
9.6;6. Cash benefits and taxes for families;149
9.7;6. Conclusion;153
9.8;References;153
10;Private Responsibility and Some Support. Family Policies in The Netherlands;156
10.1;1. Introduction;156
10.2;2. Fertility as a non-issue;158
10.3;3. Strengthening family obligations;161
10.4;4. From the ‘combination scenario’ towards ‘life course saving’ schemes: an overview;163
10.5;5. Who takes parental leave?;164
10.6;6. Childcare;167
10.7;7. Child benefits;170
10.8;8. Conclusion;171
10.9;References;173
11;Family Policies in Germany;176
11.1;1. Introduction;176
11.2;2. Varying models of family policy;176
11.3;3. The right (not) to have children;179
11.4;4. Policies to enhance ‘fertility’;181
11.5;5. Rights and obligations among family members;183
11.6;5. Child support;186
11.7;6. Children’s rights: the right to childcare;189
11.8;8. Parental leave, the right to care;195
11.9;8. The shifting logic of parental leave;197
11.10;9. Cash benefits and tax allowances for families;198
11.11;10. Summary: A new logic of family policy;199
12;Conclusion;204
12.1;Synopsis 1: Leave for parents in the Nordic countries, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK Denmark;206
12.2;Synopsis 2: Childcare in the Nordic countries, Germany, the Netherlands and the UK Denmark;210
13;List of Contributors;214
Family Policy. The Case of Sweden.- Current Issues of Family Policy in Denmark.- Family Policies in Finland.- Family Policies in Norway.- Family Policy in Iceland: An Overview.- Family Policies in the UK.- Private Responsibility and Some Support. Family Policies in The Netherlands.- Family Policies in Germany.- Conclusion.
Family Policy. The Case of Sweden (p. 37)
Ulla Björnberg and Lillemor Dahlgren
Abstract
Family policy in Sweden has three major purposes: to promote equal opportunities between men and women, to reduce the costs for parents of raising children, and third to provide affordable and high quality childcare for all children. An adult worker model has been the model for family policy in Sweden since 1960-1970. To accomplish this model, a priority has been to bring women into the labour market. For this goal to be accomplished a wide range of de-familialisation policies has been introduced. Within the framework of social insurance extensive rights to reimbursed parental leave for both mothers and fathers were established in the 1970s and gradually extended over the years.
For the last decade policies have focussed on fatherhood and the rights of children to have access to both mothers and fathers. Neutrality has been applied within the system but there was a preference for individualised rights to parental leave in order to encourage fathers to take more parental leave. Public childcare has high coverage and is now an integral part of the educational programmes for children.
Key words: Gender equality, Sweden, childcare, parental leave
1. Introduction
Forty years ago, the breadwinner family was put on the agenda for change in Swedish policy debates. The reform process started at the beginning of the 1960s when the nuclear breadwinner family model was questioned in public debates as being problematic for both women and men in a democratic society (Dahlström, 1962, Tiller, 1962). Intellectuals led the debates that focussed on sex roles as being highly unequal. At an early stage, the debate emphasised ideals of equality between men and women.
Equality was legitimised with arguments about modernity and the emancipation of men and women. Breadwinning and caring were felt to be the responsibility of both sexes, and the drive toward greater equality ought to involve both women and men (Klinth, 2002, Bergman &, Hobson, 2002). The debate on equal opportunities of women and men was the starting point for reforms that mainly were introduced during the 1970s. With these reforms an ‘adult worker family model’, as Jane Lewis (2001) named it, was institutionalised in society.
These reforms were integrated into a more encompassing model of the Swedish welfare state after the Second World War, one which has been characterised as a universalistic model with individual and gender-neutral social rights and with extended responsibility by the public sector for social care and social services1.
Sweden established its ‘adult worker model’ already during the 1960s and 1970s primarily to increase women’s labour market participation. Goals enhancing the ‘adult worker model’ were unanimously supported by a broad coalition of political actors (Hinnfors, 1991). Promoting women’s employment also necessitated an institutional framework regarding the care of children and other dependant family members.
The subsequent parental leave reform in 1974 and a reform of institutional childcare were to pave the way for women to enter the labour market in high numbers. The political agreements that were reached were built on compromises between different political understandings of ‘equality’ and of the relationship between the state and the family.
