Résumé :
|
The question of who looks after young children is a function of the social construction of'mothering'Although the exact nature and distribution of "mothering" work changes according to cultural and historical context, mothering has remained inextricably linked to gender. Indeed, numerous studies have shown that fathers'involvement in child care has not increased to match mothers'involvement in the labour force and that women remain the principal carers for children. Given that child care continues to be women's work, the aim of this article is to provide a systematic study of the ways in which different welfare regimes may have helped challenge the dominant ideology of mothering by fostering a distribution of child care which assists mothers in their employment and which gives child care providers social and economic status. This is achieved by investigating mothers'employment patterns, policies towards parenting and child care, child care pratcices and the status of child care providers in Sweden, France and Britain. These are three countries which all have a high rates of women's participation in the labour market but have acknowledged differences in state support for working mothers. The finding is that in all 3 welfare regimes, the ability of some mothers even partially to deconstruct their'mothering'role relies on the existence of other women, who are not in such an advantageous position, to act as'mother substitutes.
|