Updating the "gender contract"? Childcare reforms in the Nordic countries in the 1990s

Abstract

Welfare state support for the reconciliation of work and family has long been regarded as a characteristic of the Scandinavian welfare state and a trademark of its "woman-friendly" policies. Based on an examination of important Nordic childcare policy reforms of the 1990s, such as the expansion of state-sponsored childcare services, the strengthening of fathers' rights to care and the institution of cash grants for childcare, the impact of reforms on mothers and fathers as workers and carers is discussed. In conclusion, the discussion returns to the reconciliation of work and family, and asks: To what extent have reproduction policies succeeded in updating the traditional gender contract of the male breadwinner family?