This book explores the organization and divisions of labour of domestic and care work in modern France and in so doing, reveals some of the drivers of and obstacles to change in the relationship between gender, the family, and the French state. The book finds that both the policies and social norms that structure how domestic and care work is carried out and by whom in contemporary France have been influenced by historical legacies dating back to the Revolution such as French Republicanism and pronatalism, and more recent political currents such as the self-management movement and materialist feminism. Chapter 1 sets out the analytical framework for the book, while Chapter 2 explores the historical legacies that help shape contemporary domestic and care work in France. Chapters 3, 4, and 5 focus on the specific activities of parental and childcare work, long-term care for adults, and domestic work in the contemporary period. Chapter 6 discusses the effects of the COVID-19 restrictions on domestic and care work, and Chapter 7 concludes the discussion.
Author(s): Jan Windebank
Series: French Politics, Society and Culture
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Year: 2023
Language: English
Pages: 246
City: London
Contents
Abbreviations
Chapter 1: Introduction
Aims of the Book
The Organisation and Divisions of Labour of Domestic and Care Work
Explaining the Organisation and Divisions of Labour of Domestic and Care Work
Explaining the Gender Division of Domestic and Care Work at the Micro-Level: Resource-Based and Gender-Based Theories
Explaining the Organisation and Divisions of Labour of Domestic and Care Work at the National Level
Structure of the Book
References
Chapter 2: Domestic and Care Work in France: Legacies of the Twentieth Century
The Third Republic: Familialism and Pronatalism
The Trente Glorieuses: The Rise and Fall of the Breadwinner-Homemaker Model, Fordism and the Welfare State
The End of the Twentieth Century: Post-Fordism, the Woman-State Contract, and the Development of Personal and Household Services
Concluding Summary
References
Chapter 3: Parenting Work and Childcare in Contemporary France
Parenting Work
Childcare
Unpaid Childcare Work
Professional Childcare Work
Concluding Summary
References
Chapter 4: Long-Term Care for Adults in Contemporary France
Informal Care
Professional Care
Concluding Summary
References
Chapter 5: Domestic Work in Contemporary France
Unpaid Domestic Work
Personal and Household Services for Domestic Work
Concluding Summary
References
Chapter 6: Domestic and Care Work in France in COVID Times
Impacts of COVID19 Restrictions on Employment and Availability for Unpaid Domestic and Care Work
Impacts of COVID 19 Restrictions on Increasing Unpaid Domestic and Care Work in the Home
Impact of COVID 19 Restrictions on Informal Support and Paid Services for Domestic and Care Work
Concluding Summary
References
Chapter 7: Domestic and Care Work in France: Gender, Family and the State
References
Index
