Conceptualizing national family policies: A capabilities approach

Comparative family policy research has advanced significantly in recent years. The growing availability of more and better data have improved our understanding of cross-national similarities and differences in family policies, as well as how they shape the lives of different families. Despite these advancements, comparative family policy research continues to face difficulties. The multifaceted nature of family policies makes cross-country comparisons complex. Conceptualizing our theoretical understanding of which policy aspects matter and why as well as operationalizing them into measurable indicators, often remains problematic for comparative analyses. Using examples of British and Swedish policies on childcare, a policy area particularly prone to conceptual challenges, we discuss the difficulties involved in conceptualizing family policies in comparative research. We argue that taking a capabilities approach provides a useful way forward in the field and show how such a conceptual framework allows us to more meaningfully analyze both work-family policies and their outcomes

Legal aid in Iceland

The aim of the chapter is to give a brief overview of the development of legal aid in civil cases in Iceland. The current law, which came into force in 1992, allows for legal aid to be granted not only on the basis of low economic status, but also if the outcome of the case is deemed to have great public or individual significance. The latter criterion, however, remains contested, seemingly as a matter of right-wing vs. left-wing politics. The discussion on legal aid has, however, mostly been framed in narrow legalistic terms in response to suggestions to cut state costs. It is therefore difficult to discern whether and to what extent legal aid in Iceland is conceptualised as a charity, right, or individual responsibility

Parentalization of Same-Sex Couples: Family Formation and Leave Rights in Five Northern European Countries

This chapter introduces the concept of parentalization, defined as the ability to become parents and be recognized as such, both legally and via social policies. Applying the concept to same-sex couples, we examine how states may facilitate or hinder the transition to parenthood through laws and policies in five Northern European countries; Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, and the Netherlands. Trends in the number of children zero years of age in married/cohabiting same-sex couples suggest a link between parentalization and realized parenthood. As partly indicated by these trends, parentalization is a gendered concept, and parenthood is more readily available to some couples than to others. Perhaps most importantly, very few same-sex couples have been able to jointly adopt a child. The fact that married female couples face fewer barriers to parentalization than other non-traditional couples partly reflects dominant norms on gender and motherhood

LGBT Desires in Family Land: Parenting in Iceland, from Social Acceptance to Social Pressure

More than 20 years ago, Iceland opened civil union to same-sex couples with its confirmed partnership law (staðfest samvist, 1996). Since then, the country has attained a high level of equality between same-sex and different-sex couples in the domain of family law, and the law has strong provisions against discrimination toward LGBT people. The increasing visibility and acceptance of LGBT people is raising questions about the social process of integration. LGBT people are confronted with heterosexual norms, a confrontation that is difficult to bypass. In this context, some may find that they are losing their identity. Iceland is a familialist society, and a key entry into the social acceptance of homosexuality has been through marriage and parenting. There is a clear gender gap in family-making. Lesbians have access to ART whereas adoption is scarcely available and surrogacy still illegal, reducing access to parenthood for gay men. However, in Iceland’s small LGBT community, parenting desire has increasingly become a reality for both females and males. Based on a survey consisting of 30 interviews, the paper studies how parenthood meets a wide range of personal desires, but also how it has become a normative pressure