네덜란드의 복지국가개혁과 남성부양자모델의 약화

Abstract

Among the features of welfare reform, one of the most remarkable changes is that the male breadwinner model has declined. The male breadwinner model was based on a set of assumptions about male and female contributions at the household level: men having the primary responsibility to earn and women to care for the young and the old. However, rising rates of female labor force participation have increased dual-earner families or single-person households, which has eroded traditional male breadwinner model and affected gender relations. The Netherlands dramatically changed from the male breadwinner model to the individual model under an ideal policy plan, so-called "Combination Scenario". The government promoted normalizing part-time jobs through shortening working time so that men and women share paid work and unpaid care work equally. Also the individual model of social policy has replaced the male breadwinner model. Married women were granted individual entitlement of social security and lone mothers were required to have a job in order to receive welfare benefit. This change is likely to be favorable to women because that can make gender relations more equally by reducing economic dependency of women on men. However much more women than men have part-time jobs and they are responsible for care work yet. Also lone mothers suffer from the policy shift because there was not considerations about their dual responbilities for care and work. This is because welfare reform was motivated by public financial crisis and the government didn"t try to construct arrangements to induce men to do care work. So Dutch shift from male breadwinner to individual model has resulted in gender-unequal division of labor.