Family Policy in Germany: Is the Romanticized Idealization of the Male Breadwinner Losing its Relevance?

Abstract

The authors examine interactions among public policy, family values, and family living in Germany, a unique and evolving marketing system. A brief historical synopsis of family policy and family matters in Germany is presented. Then, the traditional normative framework underlying most family matters-the paradigm of the male breadwinner-is discussed. For many Germans, the values behind the male breadwinner paradigm do not provide guidelines for daily decisions. Rather, they reflect a romanticized abstraction of idealized family living. The article concludes with a call for an open dialogue about the normative foundations of family policy in Germany, eventually to establish agreed upon norms and guiding principles for public policy aimed at family, with implications for the marketing system and societal well-being.

Sex-Role Specialization in a Transforming Market: Empirical Evidence from Vietnamese Middle-Class Households

“…However, in contrast to the expectation that this would also apply to women (as chief earners in a household), it was found that women allocate resources differently and downplay their role as a good provider (Commuri and Gentry 2005). While in Western countries, the role of partners has changed due to policy interventions, such as in Sweden (Ekström and Hjort 2010) or Germany (Nill and Shultz 2010), in the current Vietnamese context, males are regarded as families’ breadwinners and are expected to work more and ensure financial security for their families. Within private households, husbands are busy with their careers, while their wives care for their houses and children in addition to their own employment.…”

Hidden in Plain Sight: Building Visibility for Critical Gender Perspectives Exploring Markets, Marketing and Society

“…Penz and Kirchler (2012) provide an assessment of household decision making in Vietnamese middle-class households and conclude that, while consumption practices in Vietnam are rapidly changing, traditional gender-role influences have remained intact. Exploring the German market place, Nill and Shultz (2010) examine family values amongst German households and in particular the romanticized ideology of the male breadwinner. This issue of the male breadwinner is further explored by Haase et al (2016) who adopt a multi-method study in assessing implications for market and social relationships.…”

#dadtribe: Performing Sharenting Labour to Commercialise Involved Fatherhood

“…Macromarketing research on gender, family, and the marketplace have investigated how intensive mothering and male breadwinner ideologies structure household labour, household relationships to the marketplace, and governmental family policies (Davies et al 2010;Haase et al 2016;Nill and Shultz 2010). It has been shown that the scrutiny and selfsacrifice ensuing from involved motherhood create vulnerabilities that are reified by a marketplace that both provides solutions and exacerbates these pressures (Davies et al 2010).…”