The 1990s will likely be remembered as a period of contentious restructuring of state social provision – one in which issues of gender are quite marked. Since the late 1970s and early 1980s, Australia, Great Britain, Canada and the United States of America have experienced a rise in the popularity of ideologies and political forces celebrating market liberalism. Debates about the proper role of the state vis-à-vis the market and the family and about the character of state policies have intensified and broadened out to consider a greater range of policy alternatives; prominently, a range of market or private solutions to social problems for many decades considered properly political concerns. These have led to dramatic changes in social policy, often referred to as ‘restructuring’, including eliminating or scaling back entitlements and increasing work incentives or requirements. Concerns of gender pervade these social policy debates – about employment opportunities and day care, about how (or even whether) to publicly support caregiving work and single parent families, about the scope of women's choices as to whether and when to be mothers. Should states promote greater social equality? Should government modify or strengthen market forces? Should governments or private entities be the instruments of insurance against social risks? Should states respect ‘family privacy’ and the decision-making authority of corporations? Should governments recognise any sorts of group rights, or attempt to accommodate systematic differences among social groups? Decisions about gender roles and relations will be inescapable in the current restructuring of social provision.

Contemporary policy shifts are at least partly in response to a perceived need to better harmonise social benefits and labour market policies in the face of economic restructuring and increased international competition.