“Women’s Work”: Welfare State Spending and the Gendered and Classed Dimensions of Unpaid Care

• Published in: Gender & society 2021-10, Vol.35 (5), p.778-805
• Main Authors: Lightman, Naomi, Kevins, Anthony
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Child care; Cooking; Expenditures; Family policy; Family work relationship; Food preparation; Gender; Gender relations; Housework; Low income groups; Mothers; Quality of life; Unpaid; Welfare state; Women
• ISSN: 0891-2432; 1552-3977
• DOI: 10.1177/08912432211038695

This study is the first to explicitly assess the connections between welfare state spending and the gendered and classed dimensions of unpaid care work across 29 European nations. Our research uses multi-level model analysis of European Quality of Life Survey data, examining childcare and housework burdens for people living with at least one child under the age of 18. Two key findings emerge: First, by disaggregating different types of unpaid care work, we find that childcare provision is more gendered than classed—reflecting trends toward “intensive mothering”. Housework and cooking, on the contrary, demonstrate both gender and class effects, likely because they are more readily outsourced by wealthier individuals to the paid care sector. Second, while overall social expenditure has no effect on hours spent on childcare and housework, results suggest that family policy may shape the relationship between gender, income, and housework (but not childcare). Specifically, family policy expenditure is associated with a considerably smaller gender gap vis-à-vis the time dedicated to housework: This effect is present across the income spectrum, but is particularly substantial in the case of lower income women.