Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-jr42d Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T11:28:55.042Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Mothers, Markets and the State: A Scandinavian ‘Model’?*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2009

Arnlaug Leira
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In Denmark, Norway and Sweden mothers of young children have a higher employment rate than have the mothers of other Western European countries. To make high quality childcare universally available is regarded as a national concern, and as part of the welfare state commitment. It is also often regarded as a precondition of mothers' employment. The modes of state intervention and the structure of child-care provision are basically the same in all three countries, yet this paper questions the commonly made assumption that Scandinavian reproduction policies are developed in accordance with one common model. The interrelationship between welfare state, market and family differs between the countries. While in Denmark and Sweden national policies supported the dual role of mothers in production and social reproduction, this was not the case in Norwegian policies in which the concept of the employed mother made only modest impact. Not surprisingly, Denmark and Sweden are more successful in approaching national aims for provision of childcare and also in facilitating mothers' labour market participation.

Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Social Policy , Volume 22 , Issue 3 , July 1993 , pp. 329 - 347
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1993

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Allardt, E. (1986), ‘Representative government in a bureaucratic age’, in Graubard, S. (ed.), Norden—The Passion for Equality, Norwegian University Press, Oslo.Google Scholar
Andersen, B.R. (1986), ‘Rationality and irrationality of the Nordic welfare state’, in Graubard, S. (ed.), Norden—The Passion for Equality, Norwegian University Press, Oslo.Google Scholar
Barrett, M. and McIntosh, M. (1982), The Anti-social Family, Verso Editions/NLB, London.Google Scholar
Bogen, H. (1987), Barmpass—drøm og virkelighet, FAFO-rapport nr. R4: 87, Oslo.Google Scholar
Borchorst, A. (1987), ‘Moderskab—himmel eller helvede?’, in Forskningsrapport, Sociologiska Institutionen, Göteborgs Universitet.Google Scholar
Borchorst, A. and Siim, B. (1987), ‘Women and the advanced welfare state. A new kind of patriarchal power’, in Sasson, A.S. (ed.), Women and the State, Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Carlsen, S. (1990), Notat om behov og muligheder for offentlig børnepasing i Norden, Ligestillingsrådet, København.Google Scholar
Christoffersen, M.N. (1986), ‘Den usynlige private dagpleje’, Juristen, 10, 390–6.Google Scholar
Dahlerup, D. (1987), ‘Confusing concepts-confusing reality: a theoretical discussion of the patriarchal state’, in Sassoon, A.S. (ed.), Women and the State, Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Donzelot, J. (1980), The Policing of Families, Hutchinson, London.Google Scholar
Erikson, R. et al. (eds.) (1987), The Scandinavian Model: Welfare States and Welfare Research, M.E. Sharpe Inc, New York.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. and Korpi, W. (1987), ‘From poor relief to institutional welfare states: the development of Scandinavian social policy’, in Erikson, R. et al. (eds.), The Scandinavian Model: Welfare States and Welfare Research, M.E. Sharpe Inc, New YorkGoogle Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (1990), The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism, Polity Press, Cambridge.Google Scholar
Hernes, H.M. (1984), ‘Women and the welfare state. The transition from private to public dependence’, in Holter, H. (ed.), Patriarchy in a Welfare Society, Norwegian University Press, Oslo.Google Scholar
Hernes, H.M. (1987), Welfare State and Woman Power, Norwegian University Press, Oslo.Google Scholar
Knudsen, R. (1990), Familieydelser i Norden 1989. Tekniske rapporter 52, Nordisk Statistisk Sekretariat, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Kugelberg, C. (1987), Allt eller intet. Barn, omsorg och förvärvsärbete, Carlsson Bokfrölag, Stockholm.Google Scholar
Kyle, G. (1979), Gästarbetarska i manssamhället, liber Förlag.Google Scholar
Leira, A. (1987), Day Care for Children in Denmark, Norway and Sweden, Research Report 5/87, Institutt for Samfunnsforskning, Oslo.Google Scholar
Leira, A. (1992), Welfare States and Working Mothers: The Scandinavian Experience, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Leira, A. (1993), ‘The “woman-friendly” welfare state? the case of Norway and Sweden’, in Lewis, J. (ed.), Women and Social Policies in Europe, Edward Elgar, London.Google Scholar
Marshall, T.E. (1965), Class, Citizenship and Social Development, Anchor Books, New York.Google Scholar
Mikkell, M. (1990), ‘Parenting Policies for Young Families in Finland’, paper presented for an international working group, New Developments in Parenting Policies for Young Children, Airlie House, Warrenton, VA.Google Scholar
Moss, P. (1988), Children and Equality of Opportunity, Consolidated Report to the European Commission, London.Google Scholar
Moss, P. (1990), Childcare in the European Communities 1985–90, Women of Europe Supplements No. 31, Commission of the European Communities, Brussels.Google Scholar
Näsman, E. et al. (1983), Föräldrars arbete och barns villkor, Libertryck, Stockholm.Google Scholar
NORD (1991), Yearbook of Nordic Statistics 1990, 29, Stockholm.Google Scholar
OECD (1990), Employment Outlook, July.Google Scholar
Ruggie, M. (1984), The State and Working Women, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thayer, P.P. et al. (1988), Forms of Child Care, Council of Europe, Strasbourg.Google Scholar
Titmuss, R.M. (1968), Commitment to Welfare, Allen and Unwin, London.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vuorento, R. (1990), ‘Barnens rätt till tryggad vård’, paper presented at the Nordic Council of Ministers' Conference on Childcare and Equal Opportunities, Copenhagen.Google Scholar
Wilensky, H.L. and Lebeaux, C.N. (1958), Industrial Society and Social Welfare, The Free Press, New York.Google Scholar
Wolfe, A. (1989), ‘Welfare Society and Moral Obligations: The Case of Scandinavia’, paper for the Sixth Nordic Social Policy Research Conference, Oslo.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Åström, G. (1990), ‘För¨aldraförs¨akring och vårdnadsbldrag’, Kvinnovetenskapligt Tidsskrift, 11:2, 37–48.Google Scholar