The impact of day-care services on mothers

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The impact of day-care services on mothers
employment, fertility and redistribution in
Visegrad countries30th 31st March, Budapest
Families and female employment in party
programmes for the last elections in the Visegrad
countries Jana Válková Adrienn Györy
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Research Questionof the paper in progress

• What family policy measures do parliamentary
  parties in the Czech and Slovak Republic and
  Hungary propose in terms of the division of child
  caring responsibilities and the models of
  institutional care?

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Theoretical Background

• Policy-as-discourse approach
• assumptions
• governments are not responding to the problems
  but rather shape the problems and public opinion
  upon them
• FOUCAULT, M. 1977. Discipline and Punish. The
  birth of the Prison. New York Vintage Books.
• BACCHI, C. 2000. Policy as Discourse What does
  it mean? When does it get us? In
  Discoursestudies in the cultural politics of
  education. Vol. 21, No. 1.
• BACCHI, C. 2004. Policy and discourse
  challenging the construction of affirmative
  action as preferential treatment. In Journal of
  Europan Public Policy. 111.pp.128 146.

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Method

• Discourse Analysis
• Documents analysed
• Political programmes
• Parliamentary parties in Hungary and the Czech
  and Slovak Republics

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Analytic framework (1)

• Gendered Divisions of Labour, from Traditional to
  Idealised

Source Crompton (1999)
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Analytic framework (2)
Simplified overview of the institutional
dimensions affected by the different goal-setting
of public childcare system
Institutional Dimension Educational Model Work-care Reconciliation Model
Approach Universal Targeted
Entitled person(s) Children Parent/ child with special needs
Pedagogic concept Pedagogic objectives (education) Mainly care
Size and organization of groups Relatively large groups (similar to school classes) Smaller groups
Fees No school fees Both (state and parental contribution)
Source Scheiwe and Willekens (2008)
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Analytic framework (3)

• Gornick and Meyers (2003) indicate that reaching
  the idealised situation requires
• a radical transformation in gender relations
• changes on the labour market for the majority of
  men and large share of women
• innovative role of the state in parents rights
  protection and ensuring high-quality day care for
  children.

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Analytic framework (4)

• childcare measures private/public nurseries,
  kindergartens, mini-nurseries, mini-kindergartens,
  private caregivers (nannies), mutual parental
  assistance, public family care, part-time
  attendance in nursery or kindergarten, mother and
  family centres
• leaves that have a clear impact on the division
  of care long-term leaves, paternity leave
• advantages and special conditions that have a
  clear impact on the division of care support
  for part-time jobs for caring mothers, support
  for part-job for caring parents, tax deductions
  of costs on private caregiver, allowance for
  childcare outside home

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Findings for the Czech RepublicDiscourse on the
division of child caring
Source Válková (2010)
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Findings for the Czech RepublicDiscourse on the
models of care
Source Válková (2010)
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Findings for the Czech Republic Location of
political parties within the framework
Source Válková (2010)
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Hungary Political parties and their electoral
programmes

• Three main topics in relation to day-care
  services
• Increase female employment
• Increase capacities of day-care services
• Ensure equal opportunities
• Parties Fidesz, Jobbik, LMP, MSZP

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Findings for HungaryDiscourse on the division of
child caring
Source own contribution
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Findings for Hungary Discourse on the models of
care
Source own contribution
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Findings for Hungary Location of political
parties within the framework
Source own contribution
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Slovak Republic Political parties and their
electoral programmes

• Main topics related to day-care services
• Flexible parental leave
• Family-friendly employment
• Ensure day-care services
• Gender equality
• Parties SDKÚ, KDH, Smer-SD, SNS

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Findings for the Slovak RepublicDiscourse on the
division of child caring
Source own contribution
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Findings for the Slovak Republic Discourse on
the models of care
Source own contribution
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Findings for the Slovak RepublicLocation of
political parties within the framework
Source own contribution
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Conclusion (1)

• In the Czech Republic right wing parties propose
  measures that involve market private
  institutions whereas leftist parties support
  public institutions
• outstanding Green Party with large mix of
  measures supporting grater involvement of state,
  market but also fathers in childcare

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Conclusion (2)

• In Hungary the Right-wing Party wants to support
  day care service but also the one and half income
  model whereas the Leftist party mentions day care
  as a mean of integration of Roma
• Green Party supports both the state and the
  market involvement but provide no support for
  dual earner-dual carer model
• The only country where no parliamentary political
  party supports the male breadwinner female carer
  model

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Conclusion (3)

• In Slovakia the Right wing Parties and Christian
  democrats propose measures to flexibly arrange
  work and family life and public and private day
  care services
• Social Democrats do not include family policy
  measures in their programme at all but propose to
  launch a discussion and preparation of the new
  family policy strategy and a new Act on Family

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Conclusion (4)

• Support of work-care reconciliation model in
  childcare in Hungary and the Czech Republic
  family day care services and mutual parental
  assistance
• In the Czech Republic and Slovakia political
  parties that stand for male breadwinner model and
  dual earner-dual carer model whereas in Hungary
  they focus rather on day care services and
  flexible work arrangements

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Conclusion (5)

• Christian Democrats in Slovakia claim to support
  gender equality and equal division of child care
  work
• whereas
• in the Czech Republic the Christian Democratic
  discourse focuses more on the support to
  part-time jobs for mothers with no clear link to
  further involvement of fathers in child caring

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Questions?
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Jana Válkováj.valkova_at_gmail.com Adrienn
Györyadrienn.gyory_at_budapestinstitute.eu
Contact