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- Title
- WOMEN, WORK AND WELFARE: A CASE STUDY OF GERMANY, THE UK, AND SWEDEN.
- Creator
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Legg, Meredith, Hamann, Kerstin, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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This thesis examines how different welfare state regimes affect gender relations by examining variations in welfare regimes and outcomes for women between Western European countries. The research seeks to understand how the diverse systems of social provision affect women: particularly with regard to their position in the labor market and in their ability to balance occupational and domestic work. Using a comparative, qualitative approach, I compare three Western European welfare states ...
Show moreThis thesis examines how different welfare state regimes affect gender relations by examining variations in welfare regimes and outcomes for women between Western European countries. The research seeks to understand how the diverse systems of social provision affect women: particularly with regard to their position in the labor market and in their ability to balance occupational and domestic work. Using a comparative, qualitative approach, I compare three Western European welfare states (Germany, the United Kingdom, and Sweden) to evaluate gender-relevant welfare policy with female employment rates, unemployment rates, and wage differentials. Welfare states and labor market policies affect outcomes for women because these policies influence and structure womenÂÂ's ability to enter paid labor and at the same time perform the majority of household labor and care work. To study the effect of welfare state variations upon women, I argue that a gender-focused model of welfare states is necessary. I borrow from Diane SainsburyÂÂ's (1996) framework establishing two contrasting ideal-types and combine this with Pascal and LewisÂÂ' (2004) gender equality model. Using this framework, I will assess whether my case studies vary around specific gender dimensions of variation including bases of entitlement, maternal and parental leave, pension, and the organization of care work. Preliminary findings align Germany and the United Kingdom with a male breadwinner gender model and Sweden with a dual-earner dual-carer model, although recent policy reforms in Germany and the United Kingdom oriented toward a Scandinavian welfare model may affect future gender outcomes. My research question hopes to uncover how welfare regimes and specific gender-relevant policies support or ignore womenÂÂ's labor force participation by reconciling work and home for women through an evaluation of gender-relevant outcomes for women. Systematically looking at the structure of welfare state provision and outcomes through a gender-relevant framework enhances our knowledge of the ways in which the varieties of gender regimes accommodate or perpetuate womenÂÂ's inequality in democracies.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2010
- Identifier
- CFE0002974, ucf:47946
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFE0002974
- Title
- INSTITUTIONAL DESIGN AND ECONOMIC INEQUALITY: SOCIOECONOMIC ACTORS AND PUBLIC POLICY IN GERMANY AND THE UNITED STATES.
- Creator
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Hudson, Jennifer, Kinsey, Barbara, University of Central Florida
- Abstract / Description
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In this thesis I conduct a comparative analysis of the influence of socioeconomic actors, business and labor, on public policy in Germany and the United States, specifically public policy that has an impact on economic inequality. The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of how institutional constructs may determine the level of influence by different socioeconomic actors on public policy. In particular, I examine the link between institutional design and economic...
Show moreIn this thesis I conduct a comparative analysis of the influence of socioeconomic actors, business and labor, on public policy in Germany and the United States, specifically public policy that has an impact on economic inequality. The objective of this study is to gain a better understanding of how institutional constructs may determine the level of influence by different socioeconomic actors on public policy. In particular, I examine the link between institutional design and economic inequality, specifically the relative influence of business interests in varying types of capitalist economies and democratic systems, and assess those facets of institutional design that may facilitate the channeling of business influence in policy making. I explore institutional changes in the German political and economic system beginning in the late 1980s to determine whether these changes have altered the policy making process over time, and analyze similarities with institutional changes that have taken place in the United States beginning in the late 1970s to present. Further, I examine whether shifts in institutional design indicate that the German system is transitioning towards a more liberal model similar to that of the United States, and consider what effects this may have on the level of economic inequality in Germany. To conduct my analysis I use the Institutional Analysis and Development (IAD) framework; based on the IAD framework I create a conceptual map of the channels by which socioeconomic actors are involved in the policy making process. I evaluate the policy-making process in both formal and informal policy arenas. The policy areas analyzed include corporate governance, industrial relations, and tax, welfare and minimum wage policy during the selected time periods. The analysis shows that the institutional designs that produced the selected policies benefit business interests and may contribute towards economic inequality. The larger goal is to develop research that will build a theoretical foundation to help us identify how these systems may be improved to produce a more equitable allocation of economic resources.
Show less - Date Issued
- 2014
- Identifier
- CFH0004690, ucf:45243
- Format
- Document (PDF)
- PURL
- http://purl.flvc.org/ucf/fd/CFH0004690
