The impact of day-care services on mothers’ employment, fertility and redistribution in Visegrad

countries3030thth – 31 – 31stst March, Budapest March, Budapest

Families and female employment in party programmes for the last

elections in the Visegrad countries

Jana VálkováAdrienn Györy

Research Questionof the paper in progress

“What family policy measures do parliamentary parties in the Czech and Slovak Republic and Hungary propose in terms of the division of

child caring responsibilities and the models of institutional care?”

Theoretical Background

Policy-as-discourse approach assumptions:

– governments are not responding to the problems but rather shape the problems and public opinion upon them

• FOUCAULT, M. 1977. Discipline and Punish. The birth of the Prison. New York: Vintage Books.

• BACCHI, C. 2000. Policy as Discourse: What does it mean? When does it get us? In: Discourse:studies in the cultural politics of education. Vol. 21, No. 1.

• BACCHI, C. 2004. Policy and discourse: challenging the construction of affirmative action as preferential treatment. In: Journal of Europan Public Policy. 11:1.pp.128 – 146.

Method

• Discourse Analysis

• Documents analysed:Political programmes

• Parliamentary parties in Hungary and the Czech and Slovak Republics

Analytic framework (1)Gendered Divisions of Labour, from Traditional to Idealised

Male breadwinner – female carer

Dual earner – female part-time carer

Dual earner – state carer

Dual earner – marketised carer

Dual earner – dual carer

or

Source: Crompton (1999)

Analytic framework (2)Simplified overview of the institutional dimensions affected by the different goal-setting of public childcare system

Institutional DimensionEducational Model

Work-care Reconciliation Model

Approach Universal Targeted

Entitled person(s) ChildrenParent/ child with special needs

Pedagogic conceptPedagogic objectives (education)

Mainly care

Size and organization of groups

Relatively large groups (similar to school classes)

Smaller groups

Fees No school feesBoth (state and parental contribution)

Source: Scheiwe and Willekens (2008)

Analytic framework (3)

Gornick and Meyers (2003) indicate that reaching the idealised situation requires:(A) a radical transformation in gender relations;

(B) changes on the labour market for the majority of men and large share of women;

(C) innovative role of the state in parents’ rights protection and ensuring high-quality day care for children.

Analytic framework (4)

• childcare measures – private/public nurseries, kindergartens, mini-nurseries, mini-kindergartens, private caregivers (“nannies”), mutual parental assistance, public family care, part-time attendance in nursery or kindergarten, mother and family centres;

• leaves that have a clear impact on the division of care – long-term leaves, paternity leave;

• advantages and special conditions that have a clear impact on the division of care – support for part-time jobs for caring mothers, support for part-job for caring parents, tax deductions of costs on private caregiver, allowance for childcare outside home

Male breadwinner – female carer

Dual earner – female part-time carer

Dual earner – marketized carer

Dual earner – state carer

Dual earner – dual carer

Educational Model

long-term leaves

part-time jobs for caring mothers

part-time attendance in nursery or kindergarten

mother and family centres

flexible work arrangements

private nurseries

private kindergartens

mother and family centres (providing childcare)

nurseries

kindergartens

public family care paternal leave

part-time jobs for caring parents

quota for sharing care

flexible parental leave for both parents

flexible working time

“bank of worked hours”

Work-care Reconciliation Model

part-time jobs for caring mothers

private caregivers (“nannies”)

tax deductions of costs on private caregiver

allowance for childcare outside home

flexible work arrangements

mutual parental assistance

family day-care services

private mininurseries

private minikindergartens

private caregivers (“nannies”)

tax deductions of costs on private caregiver

allowance for working parents for childcare outside home

mini-nurseries

mini-kindergartens

Findings for the Czech RepublicDiscourse on the division of child caring

Source: Válková (2010)

Findings for the Czech RepublicDiscourse on the models of care

Source: Válková (2010)

Findings for the Czech Republic Location of political parties within the

framework

Source: Válková (2010)

Hungary: Political parties and their electoral programmes

• Three main topics in relation to day-care services:– Increase female employment – Increase capacities of day-care services– Ensure equal opportunities

Parties: Fidesz, Jobbik, LMP, MSZP

Political Party Male breadwinner – female carer

Dual earner – female part-time carer

Dual earner – marketized carer

Dual earner – state carer

Dual earner – dual carer

Far-right wing party 0 0 0 + 0 Right wing party 0 ++ 0 + 0 Green Party 0 0 + + 0 Leftist Party 0 0 0 0 0

Findings for HungaryDiscourse on the division of child caring

Source: own contribution

Findings for Hungary Discourse on the models of care

Political Party Educational Model Work-care Reconciliation Model

Far-right wing Party + 0 Right wing Party 0 0 Green Party + + Leftist Party + 0 Source: own contribution

Findings for Hungary Location of political parties within the framework

Male breadwinner – female carer

Dual earner – female part-time carer

Dual earner – marketized carer

Dual earner – state carer

Dual earner – dual carer

Educational Model

Work-care Reconciliation Model

Fidesz Fidesz

LMP

LMP

MSZP

Jobbik

Source: own contribution

Slovak Republic: Political parties and their electoral programmes

• Main topics related to day-care services– Flexible parental leave– Family-friendly employment– Ensure day-care services– Gender equality

Parties: SDKÚ, KDH, Smer-SD, SNS

* Information based on electoral programme for 2012 elections

Political Party Male breadwinner – female carer

Dual earner – female part-time carer

Dual earner – marketized carer

Dual earner – state carer

Dual earner – dual carer

Far-right wing Party 0 + + + + Centre-right wing Party

0 ++ + + +++

Centre-right Regional Party

0 0 0 0 0

Liberals* + 0 0 0 0 Christian Democrats 0 + + + ++ Leftist Party 0 0 0 0 0

Findings for the Slovak RepublicDiscourse on the division of child caring

Source: own contribution

Findings for the Slovak Republic Discourse on the models of care

Political Party Educational Model Work-care Reconciliation Model

Far-right wing Party ++ 0 Centre-right wing Party + + Centre-right Regional Party 0 0 Liberals* 0 0 Christian Democrats + 0 Leftist Party 0 0 * Information based on electoral programme for 2012 elections

Source: own contribution

Findings for the Slovak RepublicLocation of political parties within the framework Male

breadwinner – female carer

Dual earner – female part-time carer

Dual earner – marketized carer

Dual earner – state carer

Dual earner – dual carer

Educational Model

Work-care Reconciliation Model

SNS SNS

SNS

SNS SAS SDKÚ SNS

SDKÚ

SDKÚ SDKÚ

KDH

KDH KDH

KDH

Source: own contribution

Conclusion (1)

• In the Czech Republic right wing parties propose measures that involve market – private institutions whereas leftist parties support public institutions

+

outstanding Green Party with large mix of measures supporting grater involvement of state, market but also fathers in childcare

Conclusion (2)

• In Hungary the Right-wing Party wants to support day care service but also the one and half income model whereas the Leftist party mentions day care as a mean of integration of Roma

• Green Party supports both the state and the market involvement but provide no support for dual earner-dual carer model

• The only country where no parliamentary political party supports the male breadwinner –female carer model

Conclusion (3)

• In Slovakia the Right wing Parties and Christian democrats propose measures to flexibly arrange work and family life and public and private day care services

• Social Democrats do not include family policy measures in their programme at all but propose to launch a discussion and preparation of the new family policy strategy and a new Act on Family

Conclusion (4)

• Support of work-care reconciliation model in childcare in Hungary and the Czech Republic – family day care services and mutual parental assistance

• In the Czech Republic and Slovakia – political parties that stand for male breadwinner model and dual earner-dual carer model whereas in Hungary they focus rather on day care services and flexible work arrangements

Conclusion (5)

• Christian Democrats in Slovakia claim to support gender equality and equal division of child care work

whereas

in the Czech Republic the Christian Democratic discourse focuses more on the support to part-time jobs for mothers with no clear link to further involvement of fathers in child caring

Questions?

Jana Válkováj.valkova@gmail.com

Adrienn Györyadrienn.gyory@budapestinstitute.eu

Contact