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Earning And Caring: Porter Lecture, Roderic Beaujot

PSC Discussion Papers Series

This paper speaks especially to the family dimensions of equal opportunity. Defining families through the activities of earning and caring, I first consider family change along with explanations based on structural and cultural factors. I then make the case that equal opportunity by gender has progressed considerably in education, while there are persistent inequalities in unpaid work, and the inequalities in paid work can often be related to those in unpaid work. By focussing on family models and the world of work, we see that various models co-exist, but that several policies are based on the breadwinner model. The paper …

Earning And Caring: Demographic Change And Policy Implications, Roderic Beaujot

PSC Discussion Papers Series

Seeking to define families as groups of people who share earning and caring activities, we contrast theoretical orientations that see advantages to a division of labour or complementary roles, in comparison to orientations that see less risk and greater companionship in a collaborative model based on sharing paid and unpaid work, or co-providing and co-parenting.

It is important to look both inside and outside of families, or at the changing gendered links between earning and caring, to understand change both in families and in the work world. It is proposed that equal opportunity by gender has advanced further in the …