Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-9q27g Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-24T11:53:21.605Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Fathers' time-bind and the outsourcing of “male” domestic work in Europe: the cases of the United Kingdom and Germany

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2020

Majella Kilkey  and
Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck
Majella Kilkey
Affiliation:
Department of Sociological Studies, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
Ewa Palenga-Möllenbeck*
Affiliation:
Institute for the Analysis of Society and Politics, University Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany
*
*Corresponding author. Email: e.pm@em.uni-frankfurt.de
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In this article we examine the processes driving the outsourcing of masculinized forms of domestic work, involving household and garden maintenance and repair, and its displacement to migrant men; a trend which we conceive as part of the broader transnationalization of care that has been highlighted in feminist scholarship. The article draws on two studies conducted in the United Kingdom and Germany, and focuses on the demand on the part of households buying in “male” domestic services. We find that households use handymen in order to alleviate a father time-bind, which is rooted in three processes. Firstly, a “Europeanization” in norms around childhood, parenting and fathering; secondly, a liberalization and flexibilization of working time regimes in both countries; and thirdly, path dependency in welfare regimes based historically on a male breadwinner model. On the basis of our findings in the United Kingdom and Germany, we conclude the paper by reflecting on whether and why we might expect the commoditization of male domestic services to be manifest in other European countries.

Keywords

male domestic workfathersUnited KingdomGermany
Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy , Volume 29 , Issue 2 , June 2013 , pp. 109 - 121
Copyright
Copyright © 2013 Taylor & Francis

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

Andall, J. (2003). Hierarchy and interdependence: The emergence of a service caste in Europe. In Andall, J. (Ed.), Gender and ethnicity in contemporary Europe (pp. 39–60). Oxford: Berg.Google Scholar
Daly, M. (2010). Shifts in family policy in the UK under New Labour. Journal of European Social Policy, 20, 433–443.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, M. (2011). What adult worker model? A critical look at recent social policy reform in Europe from a gender and family perspective. Social Politics, 18, 1–23.Google Scholar
EC. (2010). Indicators for monitoring the employment guidelines including indicators for additional employment analysis. 2010 Compendium, Version of: 20/07/2010. Retrieved May 4, 2012, from http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=101&langId=en&furtherPubs=yes Brussels: European Commission.Google Scholar
Esping-Andersen, G. (2002). Towards the good society, once again? InEsping-Andersen, G., Gallie, D., Hemerijck, A., & Myles, J. (Eds.), Why we need a new welfare state (pp. 1–25). Oxford: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gallie, D., & Russell, H. (2009). Work–family conflict and working conditions in Western Europe. Social Indicators Research, 93, 445–467.Google Scholar
Gavanas, A. (2012). Migrant domestic workers, social network strategies and informal markets for domestic services in Sweden. Women’s Studies International Forum. Retrieved from http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277539512001185Google Scholar
Haas, L., & Rostgaard, T. (2011). Fathers’ rights to paid parental leave in the Nordic countries: Consequences for the gendered division of leave. Community, Work & Family, 14, 177–195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobson, B., & Fahlén, S. (2009). Competing scenarios for European fathers: Applying Sen's capabilities and agency framework to work–family balance. American Academy of Political and Social Science, 624(1), 214–233.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobson, B., & Morgan, D. (2002). Introduction: Making men into fathers. In Hobson, B. (Ed.), Making men into fathers (pp. 1–24). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochschild, A. R. (2000). Global care chains and emotional surplus value. In Hutton, W. & Giddens, A. (Eds.), On the edge: Living with global capitalism (pp. 130–146). London: Jonathan Cape.Google Scholar
Institut der deutschen Wirtschaft Köln. (2009). Arbeitsplatz Privathaushalt. Ein Weg aus der Schwarzarbeit. Pressekonferenz, 24. Februar 2009, Berlin. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/ckfn4hrGoogle Scholar
Katz, C. (2008). Childhood as spectacle: Relays of anxiety and the reconfiguration of the child. Cultural Geographies, 15, 5–17.Google Scholar
Kilkey, M. (2006). New Labour and reconciling work and family life: Making it fathers’ business? Social Policy and Society, 5, 167–175.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilkey, M. (2010). Men and domestic labor: A missing link in the global care chain. Men and Masculinities, 13, 126–149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilkey, M., Lutz, H., & Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2010). Introduction. Domestic and care work at the intersection of welfare, gender and migration regimes: Some European experiences. Social Policy and Society, 9, 379–384.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilkey, M., & Perrons, D. (2010). Gendered divisions in domestic-work time. The rise of the (migrant) handyman phenomenon. Time and Society, 19, 239–264.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kilkey, M., Perrons, D., & Plomien, A. with Hondagneu-Sotelo, P. and Ramirez, H. (2013). Gender, migration and domestic work: Masculinities, male labour and fathering in the UK and USA. Basinstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, M. E. (1987). Introduction: The emergent American father. In Lamb, M. E. (Ed.), The father role: A cross-cultural perspective (pp. 3–23). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Lareau, A. (2003). Unequal childhoods: Class, race, and family life. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Lewis, J. (2001). The decline of the male breadwinner model: Implications for work and care. Social Politics, 8(2), 152–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J. (2009). Work-family balance, gender and policy. Cheltenham: Edward Elgar.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lewis, J., & Campbell, M. (2007). Work/family balance policies in the UK since 1997: A new departure? Journal of Social Policy, 36, 365–381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Messner, M. (2009). It's all for the kids: Gender, families and youth sports. Berkeley: University of California Press.Google Scholar
Milkman, R., Reese, E., & Roth, B. (1998). The macrosociology of paid domestic labor. Work and Occupations, 25, 483–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Miranda, V. (2011). Cooking, Caring and Volunteering: Unpaid Work Around the World, OECD Social, Employment and Migration. Working Papers No 116. Retrieved from www.oecd.org/els/workingpapers, date accessed 29 May 2012.Google Scholar
Moss, P. (2012). International Review of Leave Policies and Related Research 2011. International Network on Leave Policies and Research. Retrieved from http://www.leavenetwork.org/fileadmin/Leavenetwork/Annual_reviews/Complete_review_2011.pdfGoogle Scholar
Mutari, E., & Figart, D. M. (2001). Europe at a crossroads: Harmonization, liberalization, and the gender of work time. Social Politics, 8(1), 36–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011a). An Overview of Growing Income Inequalities in OECD Countries: Main Findings. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/40/12/49499779.pdfGoogle Scholar
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2011b). Divided we stand: Why inequality keeps rising. Paris: OECD Publishing. Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/document/51/0,3746,en_2649_33933_49147827_1_1_1_1,00.htmlGoogle Scholar
Palenga-Möllenbeck, E. (2013). New maids - new butlers? Polish domestic workers in Germany and commodification of social reproductive work. In B. Aulenbacher, & C. Innreiter-Moser (Ed.), Making the Difference – Diversity, Inequality, and Intersectionality in Theory and Practice. Special Issue of the Journal Equality, Diversity and Inclusion. An International Journal 32(6) 557–574.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Parreňas, R. S. (2000). Migrant Filipina domestic workers and the international division of reproductive labor. Gender and Society, 14(4), 560–580.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Relationships Foundation. (2011). The family pressure gauge. A measurement of progress towards the goal of making Britain the “most family friendly” country in Europe. Cambridge: Relationships Foundation.Google Scholar
Seifert, H. (2006). Konfliktfeld Arbeitszeitpolitik. Entwicklungslinien, Gestaltungsanforderungen und Perspektiven der Arbeitszeit Wirtschafts- und Sozialwissenschaftliches Institut in der Hans-Böckler-Stiftung, Düsseldorf. Retrieved May 18, 2012, from http://library.fes.de/pdf-files/asfo/04303.pdfGoogle Scholar
Seifert, H. (2011). Zwei Gesichter der Flexibilität. Presentation hold on Arbeitsmarktkonferenz des MSAGD 2011. Retrieved from http://tinyurl.com/8yq2bnfGoogle Scholar
Smith, A. (2007). Working fathers as providers and carers: Towards a new conceptualisation of fatherhood. In Maltby, T., Kennett, P., & Rummery, K. (Eds.), Social Policy Review, 20: Analysis and debate in social policy (pp. 279–296). Bristol: Policy Press.Google Scholar
Williams, F. (2012). Converging variations in migrant care work in Europe. Journal of European Social Policy, 22(4), 363–376.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Windebank, J. (2007). Outsourcing women's domestic labour: The Chèque Emploi-Service Universel in France. Journal of European Social Policy, 17, 257–270.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wippermann, C. (2011). Haushaltsnahe Dienstleistungen: Bedarfe und Motive beim beruflichen Wiedereinstieg. Berlin: Bundesministerium für Familie, Senioren, Frauen und Jugend.Google Scholar
WSI GenderDaten Portal: Statistisches Taschenbuch 2011 des WSI Taricharchives, Europäische Arbeitskräftestichprobe (ELFS) IAQ by Peter Sopp und Alexandra Wagner. Retrieved from 2011a: http://www.boeckler.de/39343.htm (accessed 04 June 2012).Google Scholar
WSI GenderDaten Portal: Statistisches Taschenbuch 2011 des WSI Taricharchives, Europäische Arbeitskräftestichprobe (ELFS) IAQ by Peter Sopp und Alexandra Wagner. Retrieved from 2011b http://www.boeckler.de/38986.htm#Grafik2 (accessed 04 June 2012).Google Scholar
Yeates, N. (2012). Global care chains: A state-of-the-art review and future directions in care transnationalization research. Global Networks, 12(2), 135–154.CrossRefGoogle Scholar