Gender equity in policies supporting paid work and caring responsibilities. An intra EU comparison

Gender equity in policies supporting paid work and caring responsibilities. An intra EU comparison

 Chiara Saraceno

 Abstract

 Three dimensions of policies appear particularly relevant in shaping the institutional context in which men and women in families negotiate their division of responsibilities:

a) the degree to which policies allow women with family responsibilities to remain in the labour market, thus being independent of another person’s income, notwithstanding their care responsibilities; that is, the degree to which they allow women to be both “commodified” and “defamilialised” in their ability to provide for themselves, for example through the provision of services (defamilialised decommodification of care work) and leaves (decommodified supported familialism);

b) the degree to which policies acknowledge caring for dependent family members (children, dependent adults, frail elderly relatives) as an activity giving entitlement to financial support in its own right (decommodified supported familialism), for example through care leaves and allowances, and care-linked contributions towards old-age pensions;

c) the degree to which policies support men’s taking up of care responsibilities, for example whether fathers are entitled to parental leave and whether there is a reserved quota for them (decommodified supported familialism for men).

Based on the newly developed Multilinks Database on Intergenerational Policy Indicators, which includes all EU27 countries plus Norway and encompasses a variety of measures and policy areas, different policy approaches will be identified and their hypothetical impact on gender equity discussed