The Persistent Problem of Gender Inequality in the Twenty-First Century: Why Sweden's Care and Leave Policies Are Not the Panacea (thesis)

Abstract

This study focuses on the effects of leave and care policies in Germany, Spain, the UK, and Sweden. Leave and care policies are distinguished as two of the most important social policies affecting women's and men's work-care arrangements (Bacchi 1999; Ray, Gornick, and Schmitt 2009; Bihagen and Ohls 2006, p. 40; Social Insurance Report 2008). The states included in the study represent a distinct mix of state-market-family relationships called welfare regimes that Esping-Andersen classifies (1990). At the end of the analysis, I will conclude that none of the states' care-leave policies encourage men to contribute equally in home production and that they all penalize care in the labor market either in the short-term and/or in the long-term. [From the Introduction]