WUNRN

http://www.wunrn.com

 

Direct Link to Full 12-Page 2013 Report:

http://www.fes-europe.eu/attachments/425_Sweden_FamilyPolicy_final.pdf

 

 

Sweden's Family Policy Under


Change: Past, Present, Future

 

 

ANN-ZOFIE DUVANDER AND TOMMY FERRARINI - August 2013

What challenges can be expected in the years to come for Sweden’s family policy? Compared to most other European countries, female employment is extensive and male shares of unpaid care work are comparatively high and have an upward trend. The financial crisis has not dramatically affected the fertility rate, which is around two children, while rising unemployment has come with rising poverty also among families with children. Still, substantial gender differences in employment outcomes as well as care remain. For nearly four decades, policies were increasingly calibrated to increase gender equal­ity among all parents with children. During recent years the new turn in family policy has come to emphasize increased choice more than gender equality among all groups of parents. While this development may increase parental choice capacity in the short run, it may also come with increased polarization between men and women from different social groups, as the different re­forms hit parents from different social strata differently.

The new orientation of policies may well mean that we are heading towards increased gender equality in the labour market among those with higher education, who share leave to a greater extent and who can afford to purchase fiscally subsidized household services. Note, however, that even for this group parental leave use and wages are far from gender-equal. There are also hidden gender inequalities operating through women’s unpaid care work, during leave as well as after the leave period. Another difference can be found in men’s much more flexible leave use during the child’s post-infant ages. Among households with lower wages there is an en­hanced option to choose a less gender-egalitarian distri­bution of work. We know that such choices often come at the price of worsened labour market prospects and lower old age pensions later in life, enhancing female life-cycle poverty risks. Such risks are particularly com­mon with low flat-rate child-care leave benefits, of the type represented in home-care leave and certain aspects of flexible earnings-related leave. A gender-unequal di­vision of work may not be perceived as a choice as the family economy and workplace situation for many cou­ples encourages women’s care work and responsibility rather than men’s. One extreme example is recently ar­rived immigrants with children. The labour market policy would facilitate integration in the labour market, but it seems that many municipalities make gendered deci­sions where women are encouraged to use leave and remain in the home (also with somewhat older children), while men take part in various labour market integration programmes (SOU 2012). A more gender-unequal distri­bution of work may thus be involuntary, but disguised as choice.

The increased number of family policy programmes not only affects the choice capacity of different social groups differently, it also increases the complexity of the fami­ly-policy system, for citizens as well as policymakers. Less transparent family-policy systems make it more difficult to weigh direct and future consequences of individual choices and family policies. Complexities within particular programmes may also affect use of benefits, something that is clearly illustrated by the 2012 reform, which aimed to simplify the gender equality bonus. Studies at the Swedish Social Insurance Agency also show a clear lack of knowledge of parental leave rights, especially among fathers (National Social Insurance Board, 2003; Swedish Social Insurance Agency 2010a).

 

The future path of Swedish family policies is far from set­tled. Family policies are surrounded by a large number of goal conflicts and trade-offs, both at the individual and the societal level. Within the governing centre-right coa­lition, there is a goal conflict between the Liberals, who historically have been strong champions of gender-egal­itarian policies, and the Christian Democrats, who sup­port policies sustaining more traditional gender divisions of labour. Among the political opposition, the far-right populist party the Sweden Democrats is in some ways quite close to the Christian Democratic position, sup­porting more traditional gender roles. The major part of the parliamentary opposition (the Greens, the Left Party and the Social Democrats) favour a return to previous family policy paths and a reinforcement of earner-carer policy orientations, not least when it comes to increased individualization of parental insurance and abolition of flat-rate home-care leave benefits. The future of the tax deduction for household services is more uncertain; theviews of the political opposition range from abolition to reforms making it less beneficial for high-income earners. In any case it is likely that the balance between different goals in family policy will continue to be a battleground for fierce political debate also in the coming decades. The history of Swedish family policy not only shows that the design of family policy has the potential to influ­ence parents’ behaviour and well-being, but also that it may take decades to change age-old gender inequalities through policy reform. Here it is important to remem­ber that short-term interests aiming to increase parents’ choice capacity may collide with long-term interests to increase gender equality. For example, when the state actively supports female domestic care work this has repercussions not only for women’s future careers but also impacts on gender inequalities and poverty risks in old age, as retirement pensions are strongly linked to previous life-time earnings.

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http://womenlobby.org/spip.php?article5431

European Women's Lobby Analysis

SWEDISH STUDY ON FAMILY POLICY: IS THE CHAMPION FOR GENDER EQUALITY DIMING?

(Brussels, 19 September, 2013) A Swedish study presented at the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung in Brussels early this month discusses the past, present and future changes in Family Policy in Sweden. Long seen as a lighthouse for gender equality and care policies, the much praised earner- carer model is undergoing some changes and the longterm effects remain to be seen.

The EWL’s Mary Collins, socio-economic policy officer, finds changes to this model alarming. The earner-carer model where both parents are encouraged to participate in paid work and share unpaid work is one that the EWL supports and advocates in order to reach a holistic and lifecycle approach to care, and has shown to be the strongest in terms of gender equality.

Highlights of the presentation included past reforms that reinforced the Swedish earner carer model. These included; parental insurance which extended the length and increased individualization of leave for fathers, public daycare that ensured 4 out of 5 children aged 0-3 were in daycare, abolition of joint taxation in 1971 that was fully individualized by 1992.

Recent changes have been made that add ’layers’ to the model without changing much of the pre-existing policy, leaving an air of uncertainty about what kind of outcomes and for whom.

While care refers here to child care, elder care is a growing issue as well. Currently, following the cuts to public sector jobs across Europe that employed up to 40% women, many are financially forced to stay at home to compensate for the cuts to the services that their families depend on, especially care.

When it comes to family policy across Europe, there is no unified response or approach; the EU has no ’competence’ in family policy as such. However macro economics strongly influence the family experience and over the past 3 years of the Europe 2020 strategic governance, a clear vision emerges as to how women are perceived:

  • childcare is targeted at women and misses men completely
  • gender neutral language hides Gender Equality issues
  • women continue to be seen as dependent on either their partner or the state

Currently, varying possibilities and combinations of care credits and parental leave exist. The argument for choice in terms of how to best ’solve’ the care crunch, either by outsourcing caring tasks to kin or private services risks individualizing choice and ignoring collective needs, not to mention enforcing a polarizing effect between women and class. Choice puts the ownace of care on individuals, however care is a societal issue. We must remove the stereotypes about men’s dedication to work taking a back seat to parenting and make room for them in our care models as well.

Policy makers are thus confronted with trade-offs: short term goals to improve parent’s choice capacity often collide with long term interests to increase gender equality. The challenges ahead deal with the uncertainty of outcomes of recent changes to the earner carer model in Sweden.

The presentation closed with a focus on the life course perspective as central. The choice between supporting mother’s care work or employment affects labour market careers and women’s poverty risks in old age. The full effects or the earner carer policy remain to be seen.

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