Anne Lise Ellingsæter

Leave policy in the Nordic welfare states: a ‘recipe’ for high employment/high fertility?

Predicted population decline and labour shortages in European welfare states are directing attention to policy strategies that might increase womens employment and fertility rates. In this context, the Nordic welfare states’ blend of high female employment rates and relatively high fertility levels stands out from others. These patterns are accompanied by comprehensive work–family policies indicating that policy reform is a main explanation. A core element in Nordic work–family policies is generous leave of absence arrangements for parents. In scrutinising leave policy in a Nordic context, the analysis in this paper emphasises that the current situation is a result of processes that have taken a long time to unfold, and that leave policy reforms interact with labour market developments and cultural institutions of family formation in shaping womens social practices.

Nordic Earner–Carer Models – Why Stability and Instability?

Earner–carer policy models aiming at the engagement of mothers and fathers in both paid and unpaid work are a hallmark of the Nordic welfare states. But they have not become uncontested policy equilibriums. Examining family policy development through the theoretical lenses of party competition and incremental change helps uncover underlying tensions and ongoing struggles. In contrast to convergence and stability in regard to moderately long parental leave at high replacement rates and in the provision of universal publicly-funded childcare services, daddy quotas, i.e., earmarked leave for fathers, and cash-for-care benefits are contested and in flux. Policy stability is associated with layering of policy elements that satisfy multiple policy rationales, elements that are also vital in working parents’ organisation of everyday life. By contrast, the main source of instability, including policy displacement, is party competition over values of ‘equal parenthood’ versus ‘parental choice’, largely following a left–right divide.

Scandinavian welfare states and gender (de) segregation: Recent trends and processes

High levels of gender segregation in Scandinavian labour markets have been referred to as a paradox in view of these countries’ commitment to gender equality and advancements in other areas. The status of gender segregation in these welfare states is addressed here: Are they (still) the most gender segregated? What processes drive (de)segregation? Relatively fast occupational desegregation in recent years has moved Denmark, Norway and Sweden from the group of highly to moderately gender segregated labour markets, and women’s share of management positions is rising. Empirical case studies selected to shed light on (de)segregation processes are discussed in relation to two presently influential theoretical theses – ‘gender essentialism’ and the ‘welfare state paradox’. Findings suggest the existence of gender essentialist ideas, but the weakening of such ideas is likely to be a main driver of desegregation. Findings on the role of the public sector and work–family policy in segregation processes are somewhat conflicting.

Cash for childcare schemes in the Nordic welfare states : diverse paths, diverse outcomes

ABSTRACT Recent family policy developments may blur conventional family policy typologies. While policies in some European welfare states are shifting away from strong male breadwinner regimes towards work–family reconciliation, the adding of cash for childcare (CFC) benefits in Nordic earner-carer welfare states points in the opposite direction. How can we understand growing family policy hybridisation? Comparison of CFC schemes in the five Nordic countries is the empirical basis of the discussion here – what does the insertion of such a familistic policy measure actually mean? The analysis displays diverse national policy processes and policy outputs and wide variation in parents’ responses to this policy incentive. Reforms have been subject to conflicts and amendments to different degrees, and impact has been shaped by their institution at different times distinguished by mothers’ varying access to childcare services and labour markets. We conclude that conceptualisation of CFC schemes needs to be contextualised in relation to political dynamisms and opportunity structures.

Universalising Childcare, Changing Mothers’ Attitudes: Policy Feedback in Norway

The way that welfare policies influence the interpretative processes of social actors is attracting increasing attention. In this article, we investigate policy change impacts on ideas mothers have about the best form of care for their children. The data are taken from representative surveys among mothers of preschool-age children in 2002 and 2010 in Norway. The surveys cover a decade of marked reforms in childcare services with regard to the supply of places, parents’ fees and the right to be given a place in care. Policy change gave rise to major shifts in attitude. From conditional attitudes to the suitability of institutional care, the majority view shifted towards ‘childcare services only’ being considered the best form of care for preschool-age children. This occurred among mothers in all socio-economic groups and in all parts of the country. Based on policy feedback theories, mechanisms likely to have caused this shift – policy visibility, proximity and timing – are considered.

Ideational Struggles over Symmetrical Parenthood: the Norwegian Daddy Quota

The politics of parenthood is a major battleground in disputes about gender equality. In contemporary debates on parental leave reform, notions about ‘equal’ parenthood and parental ‘choice’ compete. Earmarked leave for fathers, the so-called ‘daddy quota’ – a hallmark of Nordic welfare states, is increasingly being discussed in other types of welfare state. Further increases in earmarked leave is thus of interest to the policy debate in other countries, too. This article examines the reception among political actors in Norway of a proposal in 2008 to divide the existing parental leave into three equal parts – one for the father, one for the mother and one shared at the discretion of both parents. Three rival ideational policy paradigms are identified: fathers’ right to care and mothers’ right to breastfeed compete among quota protagonists, while ‘choice’ is advocated by quota antagonists. So far, quota protagonists guided by the mothers’ rights paradigm have been the most successful, but persistent, ideational tensions are rendering future developments uncertain.

Nordic Politicization of Parenthood: Unfolding Hybridization?

Changing gender relations of family and work in Europe are challenging the relationship between the welfare state and parents with young children. This has brought about a “politicization of parenthood”—wide-ranging, controversial political processes in which the boundaries between the private and the public are redesigned (Ellingsaeter and Leira 2006). Considerable attention has been directed toward the Nordic welfare states for their pioneering developments of policies supporting working parents. A main interest has been in the policy similarity of these countries; they tend to cluster around key policy elements that go toward a “dual earner/dual carer” model. The aim of this model is the symmetrical engagement of mothers and fathers in both market work and unpaid work in the home (see Gornick and Meyers 2008). Nonetheless, there are also policy differences that challenge the image of a uniform Nordic childcare model (e.g., Leira 2006).

Ideational struggles over women’s part-time work in Norway: Destabilizing the gender contract

High rates of part-time work have been associated with high female employment rates in the Nordic countries, except for Finland. Part-time work has played a key role in the modification of the male breadwinner gender contract by enabling women to enter paid work while continuing to take on the main domestic responsibilities. Previously tacit and little disputed, this ‘normalization’ of women’s part-time work has increasingly become a contentious issue in the public debate in Norway, both in terms of its persistently high level and of the cultural values surrounding it. In their case study, the authors analyse the articulation of these critiques and the underlying conflict dynamics that put the gender contract under pressure and facilitate its modification. The empirical focus is on events inciting debates and the arguments or ideational frames key political actors have used to support their position. The analysis is based on newspaper articles published during the period 1997–2013.