This study was made to find out how a woman acquires her work citizenship of a welfare state through the work-family reconciliation policies from the point of view of labour right and care right. What makes the point of view of labour right and care r...
This study was made to find out how a woman acquires her work citizenship of a welfare state through the work-family reconciliation policies from the point of view of labour right and care right. What makes the point of view of labour right and care right important is that the process in which a woman acquires a work citizenship creates a new social right, based on care, which is different from traditional social rights for a man and that a man becomes an important exerciser of this newly created right to care. The above point of view, which focuses on care, also implies the necessity that not only the boundary between paid labour and unpaid care work but also the balance of the relative importance between them has to be considered. As a means to preserve labour right and care right, the work-family reconciliation policies show us not only the present status of a woman's work citizenship but also social discussion on the interaction between a country, a market and a family as well as between a man and a woman in taking charge of paid labour and unpaid care work.
This study investigated how the two rights, labour right and care right, established by the work-family reconciliation policies, are organized on a national level through the methods of social sharing of care such as the strategies of familization, de-familization, commodication and decommodication because paid labour and unpaid care work can be concretely embodied by such strategies. The most fundamental subject of this study was the difference in the development of paid labour and unpaid care work between a model family supported by a man and another model family supported by both a man and a woman because families are divided into these two models according to the difference in sex role. Actually in case of UK and Sweden, the former country's sex role related to the responsibility for care has been differently developed from the latter. Likewise, the former's social sharing of care has also been developed in a different way from the latter. And different results have been created from the two different countries in labour right and care right of a man and a woman. Especially the matter whether a society regards a woman as a laborer or a carer has been an important starting point for the way in which social sharing of care develops.
UK had defended a traditional gender role by which a person responsible for care was a woman, and this gender role was hardly changed despite of the nationwide nurturing plan carried on by Tony Blair, a former Prime Minister. In the social atmosphere in which care was regarded as a private task for a woman, social sharing of care could not develop enough, and the support system for a working woman through de-familization was also unsatisfactory. As the country failed to promote de-familization, the public attitudes regarding a different gender role and the support system for a man's participation in care had not been developed any more. In English society, a matter related to work-family reconciliation is still regarded as a matter of a family, especially a woman. As public nurture has not been developed enough, the de-familization of care is being promoted by market. English parents' familization and decommodication level is very low.
Contrary to UK, Sweden has gradually changed the traditional gender role related to the difference in the responsibility for care between a man and a woman by discussing gender equality. Due to this change in gender role, the swedish began to regard care as a social matter, not a woman-specific matter, and to share care on the national level. As a woman has to live her social life as a laborer, it becomes impossible for her to take the complete responsibility for care. The society where she belongs to has to reduce her responsibility for care work. In this sense, the family-levelled responsibility for care work began to be shared with the country and the market. What is important is that the de-familization on the national level was accompanied with the change of gender role in the labor market. During this process, a man could naturally participate in care work.
The gender role related to care continuously influences the methods to share the responsibility for care. Social sharing of care between UK which regards a woman as a carer responsible for all care work and Sweden which is contrary to UK's perception has been develop in different ways. Swedish society which regards a woman as a laborer rather than as a carer has strengthened the national responsibility for care as it considers a matter related to care work not a simple family matter but a social task which needs public control. However, UK which regards care as a private matter has reduced the importance of work-family reconciliation.
It was also proven that the degree of genderl inequality for care between a man and a woman differs according to the degree of national responsibility for care. English de-familization which has not been led by the country has failed to reduce a woman's care responsibility due to the limitation of the market which causes high cost, to make its woman citizens participate in the labor market and to bring about the change of the traditional gender role. Gender inequality for care has not been improved, either. However, the de-familization led by Sweden which puts great responsibility for care on the country has succeed to make its woman citizens take part in the labor market, and gender role in the labor market has been naturally changed. Moreover, since care work performed by a man began to be supported on the national level, the gender inequality between a man and a woman, caused by the responsibility for care, has been improved, raising the social value placed on care work. It is very important to grant care a public value because, if the social value of care is not properly assessed, social sharing of care is difficult to be successful and a woman who is regarded main