Social Europe

politics, economy and employment & labour

  • Themes
    • European digital sphere
    • Recovery and resilience
  • Publications
    • Books
    • Dossiers
    • Occasional Papers
    • Research Essays
    • Brexit Paper Series
  • Podcast
  • Videos
  • Newsletter

Social policy starts at home

Shahra Razavi 5th September 2019

By designing a policy package around the needs of contemporary families, political leaders can promote women’s rights, children’s development and employment.

social policy
Shahra Razavi

Political economy has come a long way. Many figures and institutions that have long embraced neoliberalism increasingly recognise the failures of markets and acknowledge that states may have a role to play in improving socio-economic outcomes. Even the International Monetary Fund now discusses the ‘macro-criticality’ of social protection, the need for progressive taxation and, potentially, universal transfers.

But the conversation—which focuses almost exclusively on coordination between state and market—remains too narrow to produce effective solutions. For that, as a new report by UN Women shows, social factors—especially the role of families and gender equality—must also be included.

These two factors are inextricably linked, with gender inequalities being heavily reinforced by family dynamics, in a way that, say, racial inequalities are not. The problem is compounded by the fact that outdated assumptions about families and gender dynamics continue to shape social and economic policy-making.

Not ‘ideal’

As it stands, only about one third of all households adhere to the ‘ideal’ family structure (two parents with children) on which policies are typically based. Among the two thirds that take a different form, a large share are extended households, which include, for example, aunts, uncles or grandparents. About a quarter of all households are either single-parent or single-person.

Our job is keeping you informed!


Subscribe to our free newsletter and stay up to date with the latest Social Europe content.


We will never send you spam and you can unsubscribe anytime.

Thank you!

Please check your inbox and click on the link in the confirmation email to complete your newsletter subscription.

.

Moreover, while marriage remains virtually universal in some parts of the world, it is becoming less common in others, with even long-term partners often choosing to cohabit before or instead of getting married. In some countries in Latin America, southern Africa, and Europe, up to three quarters of women aged 25-29 who are in relationships are cohabiting with their partners.

All of this has important policy implications. Given their greater longevity, women over 60 are twice as likely as men of the same age group to be living on their own, often subsisting on a meagre pension and/or little, if any, savings.

Furthermore, single-parent households—more than three quarters of which are headed by single mothers—are, on average, twice as likely as dual-parent households to be living in poverty. Single parents often struggle to balance paid work with their care responsibilities.

Unpaid caregiving

But even in dual-parent and higher-income households, women face significant challenges in juggling paid work and unpaid care work. Globally, women perform over 76 per cent of unpaid caregiving, on average—more than three times as much as men.

This significantly reduces women’s access to independent income. Only about half of married or cohabiting women aged 25-54 are in the labour force, compared with nearly all married or cohabiting men. And whereas the presence of young children in the household decreases women’s employment rates, it increases that of men.


We need your support


Social Europe is an independent publisher and we believe in freely available content. For this model to be sustainable, however, we depend on the solidarity of our readers. Become a Social Europe member for less than 5 Euro per month and help us produce more articles, podcasts and videos. Thank you very much for your support!

Become a Social Europe Member

An independent income strengthens women’s bargaining power, enables them to exit abusive relationships and provides security in old age. Moreover, the share of women earning an independent income is inversely correlated with the share of households in poverty. As the Danish sociologist Gøsta Esping-Andersen put it, ‘The single most effective remedy against poverty is maternal employment.’

Early childhood

To enhance women’s economic autonomy, the priority must be to invest in care systems, including early childhood education and care. This is particularly urgent in developing countries, where the gap between the supply of childcare and demand for such services is largest, owing to the relatively small childcare workforce.

Beyond enabling women to pursue economic opportunities, quality, affordable childcare helps to fuel job creation (within the care sector) and build human capital (particularly among the children who benefit from it). Given this—as well as the time commitment that paid work represents for both genders—such investment is needed even if unpaid work is more equally shared within households.

A second priority must be to deliver comprehensive social protections, including paid leave—which enables parents to care for children without becoming disconnected from the labour market—and income support. Family benefits, such as childcare allowances, mitigate the heightened risk of poverty that accompanies childrearing. Single parents should receive additional support.

Meanwhile, universal pensions can support women—who are likely to have fewer savings and assets than men but live longer—in old age. Accessible long-term care and reform of marital-property regimes would also help. Finally, to protect women’s rights to joint assets, social benefits and child custody, family laws and social policies must recognise cohabitation, rather than just marriage.

By designing a policy package around the needs of contemporary families, political leaders can promote women’s rights, children’s development and employment. The same policies would therefore be a boon to economic dynamism and poverty reduction.

Republication forbidden. Copyright: Project Syndicate 2019 Social policy starts at home

Shahra Razavi

Shahra Razavi is director of the Social Protection Department at the International Labour Organization.

Home ・ Politics ・ Social policy starts at home

Most Popular Posts

schools,Sweden,Swedish,voucher,choice Sweden’s schools: Milton Friedman’s wet dreamLisa Pelling
world order,Russia,China,Europe,United States,US The coming world orderMarc Saxer
south working,remote work ‘South working’: the future of remote workAntonio Aloisi and Luisa Corazza
Russia,Putin,assets,oligarchs Seizing the assets of Russian oligarchsBranko Milanovic
Russians,support,war,Ukraine Why do Russians support the war against Ukraine?Svetlana Erpyleva

Most Recent Posts

Gazprom,Putin,Nordstream,Putin,Schröder How the public loses out when politicians cash inKatharina Pistor
defence,europe,spending Ukraine and Europe’s defence spendingValerio Alfonso Bruno and Adriano Cozzolino
North Atlantic Treaty Organization,NATO,Ukraine The Ukraine war and NATO’s renewed credibilityPaul Rogers
transnational list,European constituency,European elections,European public sphere A European constituency for a European public sphereDomènec Ruiz Devesa
hydrogen,gas,LNG,REPowerEU EU hydrogen targets—a neo-colonial resource grabPascoe Sabido and Chloé Mikolajczak

Other Social Europe Publications

The transatlantic relationship
Women and the coronavirus crisis
RE No. 12: Why No Economic Democracy in Sweden?
US election 2020
Corporate taxation in a globalised era

Hans Böckler Stiftung Advertisement

Towards a new Minimum Wage Policy in Germany and Europe: WSI minimum wage report 2022

The past year has seen a much higher political profile for the issue of minimum wages, not only in Germany, which has seen fresh initiatives to tackle low pay, but also in those many other countries in Europe that have embarked on substantial and sustained increases in statutory minimum wages. One key benchmark in determining what should count as an adequate minimum wage is the threshold of 60 per cent of the median wage, a ratio that has also played a role in the European Commission's proposals for an EU-level policy on minimum wages. This year's WSI Minimum Wage Report highlights the feasibility of achieving minimum wages that meet this criterion, given the political will. And with an increase to 12 euro per hour planned for autumn 2022, Germany might now find itself promoted from laggard to minimum-wage trailblazer.


FREE DOWNLOAD

ETUI advertisement

Bilan social / Social policy in the EU: state of play 2021 and perspectives

The new edition of the Bilan social 2021, co-produced by the European Social Observatory (OSE) and the European Trade Union Institute (ETUI), reveals that while EU social policy-making took a blow in 2020, 2021 was guided by the re-emerging social aspirations of the European Commission and the launch of several important initiatives. Against the background of Covid-19, climate change and the debate on the future of Europe, the French presidency of the Council of the EU and the von der Leyen commission must now be closely scrutinised by EU citizens and social stakeholders.


AVAILABLE HERE

Eurofound advertisement

Living and working in Europe 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic continued to be a defining force in 2021, and Eurofound continued its work of examining and recording the many and diverse impacts across the EU. Living and working in Europe 2021 provides a snapshot of the changes to employment, work and living conditions in Europe. It also summarises the agency’s findings on issues such as gender equality in employment, wealth inequality and labour shortages. These will have a significant bearing on recovery from the pandemic, resilience in the face of the war in Ukraine and a successful transition to a green and digital future.


AVAILABLE HERE

Foundation for European Progressive Studies Advertisement

EU Care Atlas: a new interactive data map showing how care deficits affect the gender earnings gap in the EU

Browse through the EU Care Atlas, a new interactive data map to help uncover what the statistics are often hiding: how care deficits directly feed into the gender earnings gap.

While attention is often focused on the gender pay gap (13%), the EU Care Atlas brings to light the more worrisome and complex picture of women’s economic inequalities. The pay gap is just one of three main elements that explain the overall earnings gap, which is estimated at 36.7%. The EU Care Atlas illustrates the urgent need to look beyond the pay gap and understand the interplay between the overall earnings gap and care imbalances.


BROWSE THROUGH THE MAP

About Social Europe

Our Mission

Article Submission

Membership

Advertisements

Legal Disclosure

Privacy Policy

Copyright

Social Europe ISSN 2628-7641

Social Europe Archives

Search Social Europe

Themes Archive

Politics Archive

Economy Archive

Society Archive

Ecology Archive

Follow us on social media

Follow us on Facebook

Follow us on Twitter

Follow us on LinkedIn

Follow us on YouTube