FAMILY POLICY:
THE CONTEMPORARY
CHALLENGES AND
FAMILY REGIMES IN
EUROPE
PUPN4419 CONTEMPORARY PROBLEMS IN
EUROPEANWELFARE STATES
FSS MU,25 OCTOBER 2023
MGR. ET MGR. LENKA FORMÁNKOVÁ, PH.D.
25.10.2023
CLASS OUTLINE
 Bacic terms
 Family policy regimes – their objectives and instruments used.
 The problem of work-family combination and effective solutions.
 Impacts on the fertility and wellbeing
 The changes during two demographic transitions and the causes
 Contemporary trends and changes of family policy
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BASIC TERMS TO START WIRTH…
 Family policy (Daly, 2020)
 Commodification/decommodification (Esping-Andersen 1990, 1999)
 Familialism/defamilialisation (Leitner 2003; Saraceno and Keck 2011)
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FAMILY POLICY
 The definition and scope of family policy is not clear-cut and there is no consensus about
either. Gauthier (1999, p. 32) terms family policy a “wide umbrella of policies.” …where to
draw the boundary around family policy in the policy universe overall: which areas and
measures should be included or excluded?The most widespread consensus in scholarship is
to define family policy as policies associated with families with children (27)
 Source: Daly, M. (2020). Conceptualizing and Analyzing Family Policy and How It Is Changing. In: Nieuwenhuis, R.,Van Lancker,W. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Family
Policy. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham.
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FAMILY POLICY MEASURES
 Cash benefits or tax allowances for families with children (most widely to help them with
the costs of rearing children).
 Services oriented to early childhood care and education (committed to a variety of goals,
including children’s development and education and also support of parental employment).
 Leaves from employment for child-related reasons (also intended to be multifunctional but
especially oriented to the organization of employment and family life of parents).
 Source: Daly, M. (2020). Conceptualizing and Analyzing Family Policy and How It Is Changing. In: Nieuwenhuis, R., Van Lancker, W. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy. Palgrave
Macmillan, Cham.
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MATERNITY LEAVE
 Aim: Protecting mothers in the labour market before childbirth and during the period of physical
recovery after childbirth.
 A period to ensure care and mutual adaptation of parent and child.
 According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) convention, MD should be compulsory
for at least 14 weeks.
 Most OECD countries provide special financial support during maternity leave to compensate for
lost wages (usually a pro rata share of previous earnings).
 Source: OECD (2007)BABIES AND BOSSES: RECONCILING WORK AND FAMILY LIFE – ISBN 978-92-64-03244-6
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PATERNITY LEAVE
 Aim: Protecting fathers in the labour market after childbirth.
 EU Directive onWork-life balance for parents and carers of 13 June 2019
 For fathers only
 Often short in the order of weeks
 Maternity and paternity pay linked to entitlement to compensation for loss of earnings individual
design of entitlement, benefit compensates for loss of earnings up to 100% of the
amount.
 Source: OECD (2007)BABIES AND BOSSES: RECONCILING WORK AND FAMILY LIFE – ISBN 978-92-64-03244-6
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PARENTAL LEAVE
 Employment-protected leave of absence for employed parents
 Often supplementary to specific maternity- and paternity leave periods (as above), and
usually, but not in all countries, follows the period of maternity leave.
 Entitlement to the parental leave period is individual, while entitlement to public
income support is often family-based, so that only one parent claims such support at any
one time.
 Source: OECD (2007)BABIES AND BOSSES: RECONCILING WORK AND FAMILY LIFE – ISBN 978-92-64-03244-6
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EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION AND CARE
 Nurseries (until 2) and kindergartens (from 3 to schooling)
 Care versus education
 Paid/subsidized
 Public/Private
 Acessibility
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DECOMMODIFICATION
 Comes from the verb “to commodify” or
the noun “commodity”
 When workers are commodified, they must
sell their labor-power on the market to
survive - they become a commodity
 Decommodification implies that they do not
have to sell their labor to survive
 = independence from the market for the
satisfaction of one’s own needs—may in fact
occur through access to either publicly or
family provided resources.
 Source: Esping-Andersen (1990, 1999).
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DEFAMILIALISATION 1
 A familialistic system, [. . .], is one in which
public policy assumes – indeed insists –
that households must carry the principal
responsibility for their members’ welfare.
 A de-familializing regime is one which
seeks to unburdenthe household and
diminish individuals’ welfare dependence
on kinship.
 De-familialization means independence
from family support for the satisfaction of
one’s own needs.
 Gosta Esping-Andersen (1999: 51)
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DEFAMILIALISATION 2
 To access to decommodification via the
welfare state, women need to be able to
enter and remain in the labour market; i.e., to
be commodified. This, in turn, requires that the
goods (care, housework) they provide within
the family and for family members—i.e., in a
familialised framework—are not only shared
with other family members, but are partly
outsourced, either to the market or to
the welfare state.
 Source: Saraceno and Keck (2011)
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FAMILY POLICY REGIMES – WHAT TO LOOK AT?
 The degree to which policies:
 A) allow women to remain in the labour market, thus being independent of another person’s income,
regardless of 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, through, for example, the
provision of services (defamilialised decommodification of care work) and paid leave entitlements
(decommodified supported familialism).
 b) 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), through, for example, care leaves and allowances, and care-linked contributions towards oldage
pensions.
 c) support men’s uptake of care responsibilities; for example, whether fathers are entitled to parental
leave and whether there is are served quota for them (decommodified supported familialism for men).
 Source: Saraceno and Keck (2011)
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VARIETIES OF FAMILIALISM
Familialization
De-familialization
Strong Weak
Strog
Optional Familizmus
Explicit familialism
Weak De-familialism Implicit familialism
Source: Leitner, S. (2003) ‘Varieties of Familialism.The caring function of the family in comparative perspective,’ European Societies 5 (4): 353-375.
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….
 Optional familialism is typical for countries that offer both services for carers and a
network of caring institutions, thus allowing a choice between personal care,
associated with leaving the labour market, and remaining in the labour market,
combined with the transfer of the care obligation to the state.
 A de-familialization welfare state regime offers a wide range of childcare and elderly
care services, but no financial support schemes for caregivers.The absence of
material support for carers significantly shapes the choice of members of the family.
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…
 Explicit familialism offers financial benefits and support programs for caregivers, but
does not establish or support the establishment of childcare and eldercare
institutions.
 Implicit familialism is found in countries where no institutional care programs or
caregiver schemes are offered. Care is provided within the family or under market
conditions, and the carer is not the recipient of any social transfers.
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APPLICATION
ON CARE
POLICIES (ECEC)
 (1) optional familialism - both widespread formal child care
and payments for child care within the family,
 (2) explicit familialism - little formal child care but payments
for child care within the family,
 (3) implicit familialism - poor rates of formal child care as
well as a lack of cash support for child care within the family,
and
 (4) defamilialism with widespread formal child care but a
lack of payments for formal child care.
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DE-FAMILIALIZING CARE POLICIES
 Both, de-familialism and the optional familialism
provide de-familializing care policies.
 Optional familialism provides a better opportunity to
choose between family care and formal care than defamilialism
which does not actively enable family care.
 Defamilialism provides family carers with the option of
labour market participation.
 Optional familialism additionally supports family care
directly as an alternative to formal care arrangements.
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GENDER, FAMILIALISM AND LEAVE POLICIES
gendered familialism shows familialistic
policies that assign family care to
women (or men), devalue family care
in relation to employment, do not
provide choices to (re-)move from
family care to employment, and focus
on (married) heterosexual couple
families.
de-gendered familialism shows
familialistic policies that do not refer
to biological sex differences, validate
family care, enable financial
independence of the carer, provide
choices to move between family care
and employment, and provide
comparable benefits for different
family care arrangement
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RE-FAMILIZATION OF FAMILY POLICIES
Reason?
 The Ideological Legacy and Reforms
 The Economic Legacy of the Communist Past
 The Institutional Legacy
‘‘Exit’’ and the Failure of Post-Communist Family Policies
 Source: Saxonber and Sirovátka (2006)
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FAMILIALISM IN CONTEXT OF POST-SOCIALIST COUNTRIES
 Explicit familialism is particularly strong in Hungary, the Czech Republic and Estonia.
States rely on and support family care.A key family policy measure is access to longer
paid parental leave, while public childcare services are limited, especially for children
aged 0-3 years.
 Implicit familialism is in Poland, Slovakia and Latvia, where parents have virtually no
public support.While these public policies do not explicitly promote traditional
gender roles, the lack of public support implicitly places the responsibility for
childcare primarily on the parents who care for the children in the family.
 Source: Javorník, J (2014) Measuring state de-familialism: Contesting post-socialist exceptionalism. Journal of European Social Policy, 24 (3). 240 - 257 (17).
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GENDER SENSITIVE FAMILY POLICY THEORIES
 The Breadwinner models
 Lewis, J. 1992. Gender and the Development ofWelfare Regimes. Journal of European Social Policy, vol. 2 no.3, pp. 159–73.
 Sainsbury, D. 1996. Gender, Equality, andWelfare States. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
 Familiailism/Familization/Defamilization
 Leitner, S. 2003.Varieties of Familialism.The Caring Function of the Family in Comparative Perspective. European Societies. vol. 5, no.4, pp.
353-375.
 Sirovátka T. - Saxonberg, S. Refamilization of the Czech Family Policy and Its Causes. In Saxonberg, Steven. Conflict, Citizenship and Civil
Society. Glasgow : Glasgow University, 2007. pp. 198-18.
 Cultural theories of family policy
 Pfau-Effinger, B. 2004. Development of Culture,Welfare States andWomen’s Employment in Europe.Aldershot:Ashgate.
 Kremer, M. 2007. HowWelfare States Care: Culture, Gender and Citizenship in Europe.Amsterdam:Amsterdam University Press25.10.2023
CAN BOTH PARTNERS BE BREADWINNER?
 Dual earner/dual carer model (Gornick and Meyers 2009)
 In such system policies:
a) support women’s labour force participation by partly relieving them of family-linked care
responsibilities,
b) acknowledge the value of care work by providing both time and financial compensation for
care giving,
c) support and incentivise men to share care responsibilities.
Source: Gornick, J.C. and Meyers, M.K. (2009). Institutions that support gender equality in parenthood and employment. In: Gornick, J.C. and Meyers, M.K. (eds.). Gender
equality. London:Verso: 3-66.
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CRITICISM OFTHE DUAL EARNER DUAL CARER MODEL
Faulty assumptions
1. there are good jobs for all, so that working for pay is worthwhile in practice.
2. dual responsibilities of earning and caring are always shared by a couple. BUT Many individuals with
earning and caring duties actually shoulder them alone, or at least not within a couple relationship.
 Source: Saraceno and Keck (2011)
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GENDER-EQUITY PERSPECTIVE
 Policies should be evaluated not only on the basis of whether and to what degree they encourage sharing within a
couple; but also on whether they allow individuals, and particularly women, to set up their own households
without being dependent on a partner.
 Bäckman and Ferrarini (2010) found that dual earner policies indirectly support lone parents/mothers, protecting
them and their children from poverty more efficiently than policies that support a traditional gender division of
labour.
 Source: Saraceno and Keck (2011)
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CONTEMPORARYTRENDS AND CHANGES OF FAMILY POLICY
 In 2013, the European Commission Recommendation ‘Investing in children: breaking the cycle of disadvantage’ set
out key recommendations for Member States with regard to supporting positive well-being and outcomes for
children and families.This was followed in 2017 with the introduction of the European Pillar of Social Rights,
which set out 20 key principles against which Member States can benchmark their social policies.
 Principle 11 - Childcare and support to children – emphasises particular measures for children.This includes
acknowledgement of the growing awareness of the importance of early childhood education and care with better
child outcomes in later life, by outlining a right to affordable education and care ‘of good quality’. Rights of a child
to protection from poverty, including the right of children from disadvantaged backgrounds to ‘specific measures
to enhance equal opportunities’ in order to ensure their access to adequate social support and life opportunities.
 Principle 9 stresses the right to a positive work-life balance for parents and people with caring responsibilities,
including suitable leave arrangements, flexible working arrangements and access to care services.
 Source: https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/99fcd15b-73ec-11ea-a07e-01aa75ed71a1/language-en
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MATERNITY LEAVES IN EU
MT - Malta, EL - Greece, IT - Italy, RO Romania,
HU - Hungary, CZ - Czech
Republic, PL - Poland, SK - Slovakia, IE Ireland,
ES - Spain, EU - European Union,
CY - Cyprus, HR - Croatia, NL Netherlands,
UK - United Kingdom, AT Austria,
BE - Belgium, BG - Bulgaria, DE Germany,
LU - Luxembourg, EE - Estonia,
FR - France, SI - Slovenia, PT - Portugal,
DK - Denmark, SE - Sweden, LV - Latvia, FI
- Finland, LT - Lithuania.
Source:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/e
tudes/ATAG/2019/635586/EPRS_ATA(201
9)635586_EN.pdf
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PATERNITY LEAVES IN EU (2019)
 The EUWork-life Balance Directive was adopted in June 2019.
 It provides for a minimum of 10 days' paternity leave to be
introduced in all EU countries by August 2022.
 MT - Malta, EL - Greece, IT - Italy, RO - Romania, HU - Hungary, CZ - Czech Republic, PL - Poland, SK Slovakia,
IE - Ireland, ES - Spain, EU - European Union, CY - Cyprus, HR - Croatia, NL - Netherlands, UK United
Kingdom,AT - Austria, BE - Belgium, BG - Bulgaria, DE - Germany, LU - Luxembourg, EE - Estonia, FR
- France, SI - Slovenia, PT - Portugal, DK - Denmark, SE - Sweden, LV - Latvia, FI - Finland, LT - Lithuania.
 Source:
https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/ATAG/2019/635586/EPRS_ATA(2019)635586_EN.pdf
 https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/02/18/where-in-europe-should-you-live-to-get-the-longest-paternity-
leave
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PARENTAL
LEAVES IN EU
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IMPACTS ON THE
FERTILITY (CASTELS, 2003)
 Since 1960, period total fertility rates
(PTFRs) in advanced industrialized
societies have declined
 family-friendly public policy
associated with fertility outcomes are
formal child-care provision and the
proportion of women reporting that
they work flexitime.
 fertility outcomes are a function not
only of policies directly aimed at
permitting women to combine work
and maternity, but also of education
and labour market policies that
enhance the probability of women
finding employment and staying in
employment irrespective of their
fertility behaviour.
Source: https://nidi.nl/demos/demographers-views-on-family-and-child-policies/
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THANKYOUVERY MUCH FORYOUR ATTENTION!