Journal Article

A Gendered Double Movement? Income Security and Family Policy Dynamics Over Three Decades

Karmann, Anna

2024

Overview

Over the past decades, social policy in OECD countries has experienced significant shifts in family and income security policies. This article investigates these changes from a feminist political economy perspective and argues how they give rise to a gendered double movement. The double movement results from increased (re)commodification combined with rising individualisation, which has a dual effect: it releases women from familial duties while simultaneously commodifying female labour. By integrating the concepts of familisation, individualisation, decommodification and (re)commodification, this analysis examines data from 17 OECD countries between 1985 and 2010 regarding three aspects: the extent of shifts towards individualisation and (re)commodification in welfare states, the identification of distinct welfare state types based on these dimensions, and their consistency over time. The findings show a trend towards increased (re)commodifying policies from 1985 to 1995 and a rise in individualising policies from the late 1990s. By using a cluster analysis with a longitudinal perspective based on four dimensions, six different types of welfare states can be identified, highlighting both stability and shifts. Notably, shifts mostly occur in the same direction, moving towards an optional familialistic/individualistic flexicurity, which combines strong familising and individualising family policies with de- and (re)commodifying income security policies.