Investment Behaviour of Women
Social Politics 2012 Volume 19 Number 3
S I L K E STA A B
Maternalism, MaleBreadwinner Bias, and Market Reform: Historical Legacies and Current Reforms in Chilean Social Policy
Downloaded from http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Madras on December 21, 2012
Abstract
Through an analysis of recent reforms in three policy areas in Chile—pensions, childcare services, and maternity/parental leave—the paper seeks to explore how equity-oriented reforms deal with the triple legacy of maternalism, male-breadwinner bias, and market reform. Recent studies of “new” social policies in Latin America have underlined the persistent strength of maternalist assumptions. Feminist research on new cash transfer programs, in particular, has tended to see more continuity than change in the gendered underpinnings of social policy. This paper suggests that once we broaden our field of vision to include other social programs and reforms, the ways in which contemporary social policy (re)defines women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are more complex and contradictory. Indeed, while some policies take unpaid care by women for granted, others point to an increasing awareness of inequalities
Fall 2012 Pages 299–332 doi:10.1093/sp/jxs010 # The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com
300
V
Staab that shape women’s and men’s differential access to market income and public social benefits.
Over the last decade, there has been a veritable explosion of scholarship on Latin American social policy. In part this reflects the fact that—after decades of neglect—Latin American states have rediscovered social policy and scaled up their efforts to address the social fallout of liberalization. Indeed, while “Washington Consensus” reforms were mainly driven by the desire to cut costs and reduce the scope of the state, the late 1990s and 2000s have seen
S I L K E STA A B
Maternalism, MaleBreadwinner Bias, and Market Reform: Historical Legacies and Current Reforms in Chilean Social Policy
Downloaded from http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Madras on December 21, 2012
Abstract
Through an analysis of recent reforms in three policy areas in Chile—pensions, childcare services, and maternity/parental leave—the paper seeks to explore how equity-oriented reforms deal with the triple legacy of maternalism, male-breadwinner bias, and market reform. Recent studies of “new” social policies in Latin America have underlined the persistent strength of maternalist assumptions. Feminist research on new cash transfer programs, in particular, has tended to see more continuity than change in the gendered underpinnings of social policy. This paper suggests that once we broaden our field of vision to include other social programs and reforms, the ways in which contemporary social policy (re)defines women’s productive and reproductive roles, social rights, and obligations are more complex and contradictory. Indeed, while some policies take unpaid care by women for granted, others point to an increasing awareness of inequalities
Fall 2012 Pages 299–332 doi:10.1093/sp/jxs010 # The Author 2012. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com
300
V
Staab that shape women’s and men’s differential access to market income and public social benefits.
Over the last decade, there has been a veritable explosion of scholarship on Latin American social policy. In part this reflects the fact that—after decades of neglect—Latin American states have rediscovered social policy and scaled up their efforts to address the social fallout of liberalization. Indeed, while “Washington Consensus” reforms were mainly driven by the desire to cut costs and reduce the scope of the state, the late 1990s and 2000s have seen
References: Downloaded from http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Madras on December 21, 2012 328 Downloaded from http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Madras on December 21, 2012 330 331 July 2011, http://www.observatoriogeneroyliderazgo.cl/index.php? option=com_content&task=view&id=2874 (accessed April 16, 2012) Downloaded from http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Madras on December 21, 2012 332 Downloaded from http://sp.oxfordjournals.org/ at University of Madras on December 21, 2012