Inclusiveness of parental-leave benefits in twenty-one European countries: measuring social and gender inequalities in leave eligibility

This article analyzes eligibility for parental-leave benefits in twenty-one European countries. It distinguishes four ideal-type approaches to how leave-related benefits are granted (in-)dependent of parents’ labor market position: universal parenthood model, selective parenthood model, universal adult-worker model, and selective adult-worker model. An eligibility index is created to measure the inclusiveness of parental-leave benefits, alongside the degree of (de-)gendered entitlements. The importance of employment-based benefits and gender-sensitive policies increased between 2006 and 2017. Eligibility criteria remained stable, but due to labor market trends, such as increasing precariousness, fewer parents may fulfill the conditions for employment-based benefits

Wer hat Zugang zu Elterngeld? Soziale Rechte und Anspruchsbedingungen in vergleichender Perspektive

There is limited knowledge about eligibility for leave benefits in general, and about leave rights of parents less securely attached to the labour market in particular. Consequently, social inequalities in access to leave benefit rights remain hidden, which may be particularly pronounced in countries where a certain duration or form of employment is a principal condition to exercise leave rights. In this chapter, we develop an innovative conceptual framework based on the social rights literature, which takes into account how access to parental leave benefits is granted (in-)dependent of labour market position. Four ideal types are presented: the universal parenthood model, the selective parenthood model, the universal adult-worker model, and the selective adult-worker model. Finally, we illustrate these types with three country case of parental leave systems: Germany, Belgium, and Croatia

Die Kita- und Schulschließungen in der COVID-19-Pandemie

Zur Bekämpfung der COVID-19-Pandemie wurden in den meisten Ländern der Welt ab Mitte März 2020 die frühkindlichen Bildungs- und Betreuungseinrichtungen (ECEC) sowie Schulen geschlossen. Betrachtet man die Kita- und Schulschließungen in internationaler Perspektive, so weisen sie allerdings – trotz des weltweiten Einsatzes dieser Präventionsmaßnahme – eine beachtliche Varianz auf. Dieser Beitrag stellt einen konzeptionellen Rahmen vor, um die spezifischen Formen der nationalen Kita- und Schulschließungen sowie der Wiederöffnungen zu unterscheiden. Insbesondere die Modi der Wiederöffnung spiegeln dabei länderspezifische Abwägungen verschiedener Gesichtspunkte wider: Strategien der Pandemieprävention und Public Health, Bildung, soziale Un gleichheiten und Vereinbarkeit von Familie und Beruf. Anhand von vier Länderbeispielen (Deutschland, Österreich, Irland, Slowenien) werden die gewählten Modi und die dahinterstehenden Motive illustriert. [In the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, most countries around the globe closed early childhood education and care (ECEC) facilities and schools, beginning in March 2020. Taking a closer look at those closures from an international perspective, however, they exhibit a striking cross-country variation. This contribution presents a conceptual framework to distinguish the specific forms of national ECEC and school closures as well as their re-opening. The re-openings in particular show country-specific considerations of different motives: public health and pandemic prevention strategies, education, social inequalities, and work-family reconciliation. The examples of four countries (Germany, Austria, Ireland, Slovenia) serve to illustrate the different modes chosen and the motives behind them.]</p

The exclusionary side of (women's) social citizenship in Southeastern Europe: childcare policy development in Bosnia-Herzegovina and gender, social and territorial inequalities

The article explores the shifts in (women’s) social citizenship in Bosnia-Herzegovina and its effect on the development of childcare policy in the 1945–2019 period. Gendered, selective childcare policy, which was inherent in the socialist notion of social citizenship and aimed to emancipate women as ‘worker-mothers’, deteriorated in the transition period when ethnicity became prioritized over gender and class. Exclusionary citizenship practices increased with the post-1990 reforms as gender and social inequalities incorporated into childcare policy design become intertwined with inequalities based on ethnicity and/or locality. The post-1990 period is characterized by discontinuity, retrenchment and weak implementation of childcare-related rights

Inclusiveness of parental-leave benefits in twenty-one European countries: measuring social and gender inequalities in leave eligibility

This article analyzes eligibility for parental-leave benefits in twenty-one European countries. It distinguishes four ideal-type approaches to how leave-related benefits are granted (in-)dependent of parents’ labor market position: universal parenthood model, selective parenthood model, universal adult-worker model, and selective adult-worker model. An eligibility index is created to measure the inclusiveness of parental-leave benefits, alongside the degree of (de-)gendered entitlements. The importance of employment-based benefits and gender-sensitive policies increased between 2006 and 2017. Eligibility criteria remained stable, but due to labor market trends, such as increasing precariousness, fewer parents may fulfill the conditions for employment-based benefits

Coping strategies of economically (partially) inactive households: the case of Croatia

How do households with inactive or unemployed members face growing risks and uncertainty? The present study tackles this problem with a case study on Croatia, a country at the bottom of the European Union’s (EU) scale of economic activity rate. The low level of activity that has characterized Croatia for more than twenty years has been accompanied by a continuously high unemployment rate, which has further increased since 2009. In this context, households with (long-term) inactive or unemployed members have had to develop alternative coping strategies. In order to identify and examine these strategies, in 2014 we conducted a mixed-method study, including a quantitative survey of 453 households and 37 semi-structured interviews. We identified six household strategies, more or less ‘successful’ in terms of the household’s material position. In this essay we further examine these strategies’ characteristics and implications, with a focus on the profiles of households employing specific strategies