Recent Changes in European Welfare State Services: A Comparison of Child Care Politics in the U.K., Sweden, Germany, and the Netherlands. CES Germany & Europe Working Papers, No. 07.6, 1997

This paper examines recent policies and politics of services, in particular child care services in European welfare states. It is argued that social (care) services are becoming an increasingly political issue in postindustrial societies and are at the very center of welfare-state restructuring. Some countries have recently developed new policy pro­ grams for child care-but there are important differences among these programs. To understand these differences as well as some common features, the paper argues that it is necessary to examine the institutional organization of child care and short-term political factors as well as the rationales articulated in political debates to support or im­ pede various policies. The paper concludes that a comprehensive system of child care provisions is still far off in most countries, despite a rhetoric of choice and postindustrial care and labor-market patterns

the transformational potential of health promotion

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Gender and the separation of spheres in twentieth century Dutch society: Pillarisation, welfare state formation and individualisation

The separation of public and private spheres has been an important issue in feminist scholarship. The concept of separability, and the gender relations assumed, made women second-class citizens and reinforced the belief that women were ‘incomplete citizens’ or ‘citizens manqué’. The idea of separate spheres was shared by most political movements in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. Pillarisation generated a system of political negotiation that focused on reaching consensus at the top-level of the different pillars. Individualisation is a concept used to describe an array of political, social and moral developments which have resulted in the breakdown of pillarisation. Labour market and social security policies only constitute a portion of the Dutch welfare system. The postwar welfare state has also provided a number of social services, including ones directed at the development of social citizenship. The histories of pillarisation and welfare state formation are characterised by substantial interventions into family life, either directly or indirectly

Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book aims to describe and evaluate how women’s participation in western societies in general and in the Netherlands in particular would be evaluated by several major citizenship traditions. It shows that the dominant citizenship tradition, social liberalism, does not really see participation as an inherent part of citizenship. The book discusses how the public and private spheres have been separated in twentieth century Dutch society, and what the implications are for the citizenship status of men and women. It explains the role of pillarisation, paying special attention to the idea of subcultures and the typical Dutch form of civil society. The book argues that women’s participation in care gives them a second-class citizenship status, while men’s participation in paid labour and the resulting position of care dependency, gives them entrance to first-class citizenship

Preface

Published in 1998, this is an edited volume of papers on the theme of participation and citizenship for women. It focuses particularly on the necessary conditions for full participation of women as citizens within a modern liberal democracy. For this question it takes the Netherlands as an interesting case study, because it shows the need for a close connection between social and political participation. The editors aim to draw together often separate discussions about citizenship in international literature - a political-theoretical discussion of democracy and a social-policy discussion on the welfare state. The papers address issues including the labour market, public goods, welfare laws, affirmative action programmes and future development for girls. The book also develops the interrelation of social and political participation from the perspective of citizenship. It relates information on the Dutch case study to international comparative research on democracy and welfare states, as well as to broader international discussions on gender and citizenship

De impact van de coronacrisis op alleenstaande moeders.: Working Papers Maatschappelijke Impact COVID-19 #07

Dit artikel beschrijft de impact van de coronacrisis op alleenstaande moeders en hun ervaringen met sociaal isolement en onderzoekt wat de betekenis van het sociale netwerk is in het ondervangen van de gevolgen. Om dit te onderzoeken wordt ten eerste aan de hand van een kwantitatieve analyse van surveydata en een kwalitatieve analyse van interviewdata gekeken naar de directe impact van COVID-19 op werk en inkomen, eenzaamheid, mentaal welzijn en sociaal netwerk onder alleenstaande moeders. Ten tweede wordt er dieper ingegaan op de lessen die getrokken kunnen worden over de positie van alleenstaande moeders in hun sociale netwerken, wat nodig is om hen toekomstperspectief te geven, en hoe het sociale netwerk een rol kan spelen in de maatschappelijke gevolgen van de coronacrisis. Uitgever: Kenniswerkplaats Leefbare Wijken & Erasmus School of Social and Behavioural Science

La garde des enfants aux Pays-Bas : discours et débats

Jet Bussemaker : Rationales of care in contemporary welfare states : the case of childcare in the Netherlands The article is concerned with childcare policies in the Netherlands since the 1960s. In analysing the Dutch case, three rationales to support or impede public childcare are distinguished. These rationales - a moral, an interest and an efficiency rationale - reflect various basic arguments on gender, care and welfare. While a moral rationale dominated the political debate in the 1960s and an interest rationale the 1970s, the rationale of efficiency - related to welfare state reform has been particularly important for an expansion of childcare provisions since the late 1980s. Although this rationale has provided sound arguments for the expansion of childcare, it has been criticized by feminists because of the hidden assumptions in it about care. In the context of welfare state reform, hegemonic discourses on childcare are shifting and may have significant consequences for the relation between gender, care and the welfare state.Cet article traite des politiques menées aux Pays-Bas dans le domaine de la petite enfance depuis les années soixante. L'analyse du cas hollandais met en évidence trois arguments avancés pour soutenir ou bloquer les interventions publiques en la matière. Ces principes, qui se réfèrent à la moralité, l'intérêt et l'efficacité, s'appuient sur divers arguments fondamentaux concernant le genre, le soin aux personnes dépendantes (care) et la protection sociale. Le principe de moralité a dominé les débats politiques dans les années soixante et celui de l'intérêt a prévalu dans les années soixante-dix. À cause de la réforme de l'État-providence, c'est l'argument de l'efficacité qui a surtout légitimé l’expansion des équipements publics destinés à la petite enfance. En dépit des résultats atteints, des féministes ont critiqué les présupposés qui lui étaient sous-jacents. Dans un contexte marqué par la réforme de l'État-providence, les discours dominants sur les modes de garde des petits enfants sont en train de changer, ce qui peut avoir des conséquences importantes sur la façon dont s'articulent le genre, le soin aux personnes dépendantes et l'État.Bussemaker Jet, Le Doaré Hélène, Heinen Jacqueline. La garde des enfants aux Pays-Bas : discours et débats. In: Cahiers du GEDISST (Groupe d'étude sur la division sociale et sexuelle du travail), N°22, 1998. La petite enfance : pratiques et politiques. pp. 65-84