Gendered or Gender-Neutral Care Politics for Fathers?

Abstract

This article analyzes how two different policy measures affect gender equality in child care. In the 1990s, Norway introduced two care policies reflecting different ideas about gender and family life. The fathers' quota policy supports the dual-earner family model while the cash-for-care scheme is based on a family model, providing cash benefits irrespective of the parent's work activities. The father's quota is a gendered policy because six weeks of the parental leave period is reserved for the father. Cash-for-care is gender neutral, in which working parents can choose which of them is to stay at home. The analysis is based on interview data from two studies, one on parental leave and one on cash-for-care. We find that the special quota for fathers has had a positive effect on the participation of fathers in child care. The cash-for-care system does not, however, challenge the existing gender structure in child care.

Parental Leave Usage by Fathers and Mothers at an American University

“…Studies have suggested that fathers taking longer parental leaves are later more likely to be involved in childcare (Pleck, 1993;Nepomnyaschy & Waldfogel, 2007). In order to foster greater father involvement in families, some countries have amended parental leave policies so as to reserve some time for fathers only, and fathers are far more likely to take leave under these conditions (Armenia & Gerstel, 2006;Brandth & Kvande, 2009;Haas & Hwang, 2009;Morgan, 2009;Moss & Kamerman, 2009). For example, Swedish fathers receive two non-transferable months of leave (Haas & Hwang, 2009), which has resulted in a dramatically increased father leave-taking rate (Klinth, 2009).…”

Égalité entre les sexes et libéralisme : le cas des congés de paternité1

“…Dans une perspective libérale, les individus devraient, après tout, pouvoir décider par eux-mêmes comment diviser leur propre congé parental et, avec un peu de chance, ils choisiraient de le diviser également. Toutefois, comme le démontrent des études sur l'impact des congés parentaux indifférenciés (soit les congés pouvant être partagés librement entre le père et la mère, sans égard pour leur sexe), loin d'encourager une division égale du congé entre les deux parents, ce type de mesure semble, au contraire, renforcer la dichotomie genrée entre le care et le travail rémunéré (Brandth et Kvande, 2009 ;Leira, 2010). Les femmes sont, en effet, beaucoup plus susceptibles que les hommes de prendre l'entièreté du congé parental.…”

“…Accordingly, LPL [Liberal Principle of Legitimacy] imposes a presumption in favor of enacting the gentlest intervention sufficient to accomplish the objective in question. » (Schouten, 2013 : 379) laquelle la mère est la mieux habilitée à s'occuper des enfants et des tâches ménagères, ainsi que les normes rendant la masculinité incompatible avec le care, expliqueraient donc, en partie, ce partage (Brandth et Kvande, 2009). Bien que ces idées tendent à changer avec le temps, force est de constater qu'elles sont, encore aujourd'hui, relativement répandues dans la population 29 .…”

Beliefs about the Gender Division of Parental Leave and Characteristics Associated with Them

“…Other 29 countries provide parental leave, and the length of leave available in those countries (including maternity, parental and childcare leave) ranges from 9 to 15 months, and in some countries it can last for three years or more. For details see Moss (2012, p. 20). on of the policies of the fathers' quota has increased parental leave take-up by fathers in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland (Brandth & Kvande, 2009;Gislason, 2004;Nyman & Pettersson, 2002).…”

“…The main objectives of the policies encouraging fathers to take parental leave are to support gender equality and to strengthen the father-child relationship (Brandth, 2013). The gender division of parental leave can be understood as an indicator of gender equality since sharing parental leave between the mother and the father supports gender equality in childcare, housework and the labour market (Almqvist & Duvander, 2014).…”