Women, Welfare and Productivism in East Asia and Europe (Research in Comparative and Global Social Policy)

This book examines how productivist thinking impacts women’s welfare, care and work. A new ‘life-mix framework’ is introduced to explore women’s life-mix patterns and preferences – ways they adopt or prefer in organising their working and caring lives. The discussion is based on empirical evidence from the comparison of four policy domains (namely, childcare leave policies, early childhood education and care, active labour market policies and pensions) in France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, South Korea, Sweden and the UK. Guided by the five elements of the life-mix framework (namely, life-mix preferences, policy strategies on productivism, welfare models on work and care, welfare outcomes and policy suggestions), the analysis shows that both work and care are essential elements of production, and productivism is a common feature in both East Asian and European welfare policies. To promote an inclusively productive society, the principle of protected autonomy in life-mix is introduced to emphasise that people’s (men’s and women’s) material life should be protected regardless of their life-mix patterns and preferences. A pro-care dimension should be added to contemporary welfare ideas and international welfare agendas to supplement their current pro-work orientation. A supported adult carer model is suggested to complement existing welfare models on work and care to ensure support is available for adults who have diverse and dynamic life-mix patterns and preferences. These proposed changes aim to create more favourable conditions for both men and women, workers and carers, to face challenges in their personal lives and major crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Front Cover Series Women, Welfare and Productivism in East Asia and Europe Copyright information Dedication Table of contents List of figure and tables List of abbreviations About the authors Preface Series editors’ preface 1 Introduction Background The life-mix framework Life-mix preferences Policy strategies on productivism Welfare models on work and care The supported and unsupported adult worker models The supported and unsupported adult carer models Welfare outcomes Life-mix relational constraints Life-mix material gaps User deficit Book objectives Objective 1: To discuss the theoretical foundation of the life-mix framework Objective 2: To explore the significance of the life-mix framework Objective 3: To examine the uniqueness of East Asian welfare regimes Objective 4: To explore the relationships between life-mix related policies and conventional welfare debates Unpaid care and unemployment among women International agendas on human welfare Pro-market welfare reforms The COVID-19 pandemic crisis Relevant welfare ideas Our study approach Contributions of this book Plan of the book 2 The theoretical foundation of the life-mix framework Introduction Production activities Social exclusion The capability approach Models of gender division of labour Commodification, decommodification, familisation and defamilisation risks Productive dimensions of government welfare policies Social investment Inclusive growth The two confucian ideal societies The commonwealth The better-off society Six welfare views 3 East Asian welfare regimes Introduction The culturalist perspective The productivist perspective Health care policies Education policies Attitudes to work issues The supported adult carer model Implications for the study of welfare issues 4 Policy case studies: childcare leave measures and ECEC Introduction Childcare leave measures Early childhood education and care (ECEC) Life-mix tactics Recognising and rewarding the informal care Redistributing and reducing informal care responsibilities Rewarding and recognising work Redistributing and reducing work Policy strategies on productivism The supported adult worker model and the supported adult carer model Leave measures in the seven countries and territories ECEC in the seven countries and territories Implications Coordination between the two supported adult models Causes of a weak coordination between the two supported adult models The unequal relationship between the two supported adult models The formalisation of childhood Constraints on the dynamic development of the two supported adult models Life-mix challenges Life-mix material gaps User deficits Life-mix relational constraints Suggestions for improvement 5 Policy case study: pension measures Introduction Life-mix tactics Rewarding and recognising work Redistributing and reducing work Recognising and rewarding informal care Reducing and redistributing informal care Policy strategies on productivism The two supported adult models Pension measures in the seven countries and territories Implications for promoting the two supported adult models Upholding the supported adult worker model Upholding the supported adult carer model Life-mix challenges Life-mix relational constraints Life-mix material gaps User deficits Suggestions for further improvement 6 Policy case study: active labour market policies and alternatives Introduction Active labour market policies and alternatives Two supported adult models Active labour market policies and alternatives in the seven countries and territories Implications for the two supported adult models Suggestions for making further improvement Five issues concerning the relationship between active labour market policies and productivism Issue one: relationships between the labour market and welfare regulations Issue two: concerns about flexibility and security issues faced by informal care providers Issue three: diverse preferences on active labour market policy measures and alternatives Issue four: subjective perceptions of users of active labour market policies and alternatives Issue five: self-care Suggestions for improvement Suggestion 1 Suggestion 2 7 Women’s life-mixes: insights from two qualitative studies in Hong Kong Introduction Mandatory provident fund (MPF) The study of young women Interview findings Worries about the Mandatory Provident Fund The government’s roles in tackling difficulties faced by women Personal effort in saving pension incomes Preferences for participation in the family care and/or work economy Implications of the findings The study of transnational family care Interview findings Types of transnational care Difficulties in the provision of transnational care Expectations on the government Personal efforts Implications of the findings Conclusion 8 Creating favourable conditions for diverse life-mix preferences Introduction Breaking the links between the life-mix challenges Near-future goals Challenging existing policy and practice Policy suggestions beyond the four policy domains Home–work integration Support for transnational care Provision of support to part-time workers and part-time informal care providers Insurance for workers and care providers Securing banking inclusion for workers and informal care providers Maximum working hours and caring hours Statutory leave Choices for single parents Choices about informal care/education and formal care/education for young children Proximate and distant care Enriching international agendas The 2030 Agenda Goal 1 Goal 3 Goal 4 Goal 5 Goal 8 Goal 10 Goal 11 Europe 2020 EU suggestion 1 EU suggestion 2 EU suggestion 3 EU suggestion 4 Going beyond the confines of pro-market welfare reforms Pro-market welfare reforms Policy strategies on productivism Conclusion 9 New dimensions to contemporary welfare ideas Introduction Protected autonomy in life-mix Welfare ideas Social investment Inclusive growth Familisation and defamilisation The capability approach Flexicurity Active ageing Degenderisation Approaches to social exclusion Social quality Suggestions Conclusion 10 Conclusion Introduction Aims of the book Contributions The two supported adult models Empirical significance of the life-mix framework Welfare ideas Women’s welfare Areas for further exploration Men’s life-mix preferences Life-mix of care receivers Government intervention in families Coordination between home setting and work setting COVID-19 pandemic Notes References Index Back Cover

Developing the new framework of 'life-mix', which considers the mixed patterns of caring and working in different periods of life, this book systematically explores the interplay of productivism, women, care and work in East Asia and Europe. The book ranges across four key aspects of welfare — childcare, parental leave, employment support and pensions — to illustrate how policies affect women in various periods of their lives. Policy case studies from France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, South Korea, Sweden and the UK, show how welfare could support people's caring and working lives. This book forms a prescient examination of how productivist thinking underpins regimes and impacts women's welfare, care and work in both the East and West.