Caring for Children Under Three Years in Two Different Models of Welfare States: The Cases of Spain and Norway

Abstract

This paper examines the policies and resources regarding the care of children under three years of age in two European countries that represent two different models of Welfare State, on the one hand Spain, framed in the Mediterranean or familist model and, on the other hand, Norway, enclosed in the Scandinavian model. Indeed, the care of children under three years is a matter of particular relevance since it influences directly on work-life balance strategies and also on gender and social equality. These aspects have been analyzed using the most relevant theories about the principles and motivations of the different Welfare State models. Simultaneously we have examined the existing resources in both countries and the challenges faced as a result of the social transformations occurred in recent decades and, specifically, the modifications in family policies and resources during the current financial crisis.

Dual‐career Spanish couples in Europe: Work‐family balance in childcare

“…Basic services are universal but do not sufficiently cover equality and care policies. Moreover, according to Díaz-Gandasegui et al (2017), the Spanish case shows a peculiar difficulty in achieving satisfactory work-life balance due to low labour flexibility, because of long working hours and lack of synchronization with formal care schedules. The combination of these factors places a heavy responsibility for childcare on families, ultimately mothers and grandmothers, with little support from the private sector or the state (Esping-Andersen, 2009).…”

“…This case reaffirms the thesis of the penalty for motherhood, since having children especially affects women's job stability by activating gender biases. Mothers in Spain continue to lack adequate social and employment protection since, as previously discussed (Díaz-Gandasegui et al, 2017), the application of anti-discrimination law is lower in some European countries than in others.…”

Grandparents’ Role in Spanish Families’ Work/Life Balance Strategies

“…The use of alternatives to grandparents' involvement often entails costs in countries such as Spain where the welfare state model does not favour childcare outside the family (Gandasegui et al, 2017;Saraceno and Keck, 2010). The intensity of grandparents' involvement would consequently be expected to depend on income level.…”

“…Fathers have also become more and more involved in childcare and domestic chores as a result of the slow but steady social redefinition of gender roles within the family (García Román and Ajenjo Cosp, 2014;Meil and Rogero-García, 2015). The result has been a diversification of childcare resources and concomitantly greater complexity in families' childcare arrangements, in which grandparents play an instrumental role (Díaz Gandasegui, Díaz Gorfinkiel and Elizalde-San Miguel, 2017).…”

Back to the Future: a Sensitivity Analysis to Predict Future Fertility Rates Considering the Influence of Family Policies—The Cases of Spain and Norway

“…These alternatives do not always promote father's direct involvement in childcare, leading families to reproduce traditional behaviors by social inertia and maintain the feminization of care (although at lower levels that in other countries). Consequently, this situation provokes or perpetuates gender pay gaps and the segregation of work sectors, which leads women to be the ones who most frequently have to reduce their working hours or work part-time when families have children (Díaz Gandasegui, Díaz Gorfinkiel and Elizalde-San Miguel, 2017;Rostgaard 2014).…”