Liberal Daddy Quotas: Why Men Should Take Care of the Children, and How Liberals Can Get Them to Do It

Abstract

The gendered division of labor is the major cause of gender inequality with respect to the broad spectrum of resources, occupations, and roles. Although many feminists aspire to an equality of outcome where there are no significant patterns of gender difference across these dimensions, many have also argued that liberal theories of social justice do not have the conceptual tools to justify a direct attack on the gendered division of labor. Indeed, many critics argue that liberalism positively condones it, presuming that it arises from the free choices of individuals, which must be respected. In this paper I will accept the feminist goal of equality of outcome across roles, occupations, income, and wealth, but will argue that liberal theories of justice are consistent with strong measures aimed at promoting such equality. I will show that liberalism has the conceptual resources to justify a concrete policy measure that goes considerably beyond the measures usually championed by feminists. The example I focus on is “daddy quotas,” which refers to the tagging of a significant part of parental leave for the exclusive use of fathers.

Why New Zealand should introduce paid "Dad and Partner Leave"

“…As noted above, where there is a possibility that leave may be shared, it is generally women that take it. For this reason, there has been a movement towards allocating exclusive, non-transferable individual rights to fathers, sometimes known as 'daddy quotas', 50 on a 'use or lose it' basis. 51 Evidence suggests that parental leaves which allocate non-transferable portions to the father lead to higher takeup by fathers.…”

Appraisal of Widows Support Groups in Contemporary Societies: A Study of Widows in Ota Metropolis

“…In that wise, a change in the democratic process alone is not enough to change women situations; other resources should be harnessed in ensuring a meaningful change of women's pathetic situations in the society. Scholars such as (Rossi, 1988;Hooks, 1984;Abbey, 2013;Anderson, 2013;Barclay, 2013) subscribe to this paradigm.…”

The Sexual Division of Labor and the Split Paycheck

“…And of course, Sweden is not what most would consider a liberal state but rather a Democratic Socialist one. See Barclay , however, for another example of the contrary argument that such policies are consistent with liberalism.…”