Demography as a Push toward Gender Equality? Current Reforms of German Family Policy

Abstract

The paper analyzes the policy objectives and (potential) outcomes of one of the recent reforms in German family policy, the new parenting benefit. The reform introduces not only a new policy instrument that puts a stronger focus on the labor-market activation of mothers but also a new policy objective: an attempt to raise the birth rate. We argue that this indicates a paradigm shift in German family policy, as it changes the interplay between (de)familialization, (de)commodification, and stratification. While the new paradigm offers better opportunities for highly qualified parents, it also leads to increasing social inequalities between families and, more specifically, mothers.

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