Nordic Politicization of Parenthood: Unfolding Hybridization?

Abstract

Changing gender relations of family and work in Europe are challenging the relationship between the welfare state and parents with young children. This has brought about a “politicization of parenthood”—wide-ranging, controversial political processes in which the boundaries between the private and the public are redesigned (Ellingsæter and Leira 2006). Considerable attention has been directed toward the Nordic welfare states for their pioneering developments of policies supporting working parents. A main interest has been in the policy similarity of these countries; they tend to cluster around key policy elements that go toward a “dual earner/dual carer” model. The aim of this model is the symmetrical engagement of mothers and fathers in both market work and unpaid work in the home (see Gornick and Meyers 2008). Nonetheless, there are also policy differences that challenge the image of a uniform Nordic childcare model (e.g., Leira 2006).