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Gender Equality and the European Employment Strategy: The Work/Family Balance Debate

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 April 2009

Margarita León
Margarita León*
Affiliation:
School of Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK E-mail: m.leon@kent.ac.uk
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Abstract

This paper explores understandings of gender equality within the context of work/family balance strategies embedded in the European Employment Strategy (EES). The article compares developments in childcare provision with parental leave drawing the conclusion that while increasing childcare provision is a clear priority for the European Employment Strategy, parental leave and other measures aimed at balancing time spent on paid work and unpaid care are not given equal concern. Work/family balance strategies are primarily intended to facilitate the engagement of young mothers in the labour market by offering public childcare provision; this is done at the cost of not exploring other more far-reaching and complex understandings of the work/family conflict.

Type
Articles
Information
Social Policy and Society , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , April 2009 , pp. 197 - 209
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2009

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