Abstract
This chapter analyzes the maternalist bias in Chilean labor programs. This bias becomes clear when looking at most of the programs that purport to have a “gender perspective” approach, but that in reality offer provisions that are in effect childcare benefits oriented toward women. Most of the programs are aimed at making it easier for women to carry out reproductive work, but fail to solve the tensions of taking on paid work alongside reproductive work. It relegates other kinds of care, for example, caring for sick people and the elderly, to second place, as well as excluding other actors such as men, the market and the State in providing care. At the same time, the emphasis on childcare is incapable of delivering specific public policy solutions to the whole range of problems that women face in the workplace, reducing women’s chances for accessing the benefits of the country’s development. As demonstrated in this chapter, when maternalism remains unchallenged, not every policy that claims to have a gender perspective necessarily has the goal of gender equality. On the contrary, in the cases where the program goal is not to reduce the gender gap, programs could end up increasing the differences between women and men rather than reducing the gender gap.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Change history
16 November 2019
Incomplete author name was visible on springer.com and palgrave.com due to the name “de la” was mentioned under the particle tag. This has been now updated under the family name as “de la Cruz” so the correct name is visible on the website.
Notes
- 1.
According to CEPALSTAT databases, this index shows how many times the incidence of poverty is greater among women than among men. A figure greater than 100 means that poverty is higher among women; a figure less than 100 means that poverty is higher among men.
References
Barrientos, Armando, Jasmine Gideon, and Maxine Molyneux. 2008. New Developments in Latin America’s Social Policy. Development and Change 39 (5): 759–774.
Blofield, Merike, and Jualiana Martínez Franzoni. 2014. Maternalism, Co-Responsibility and Social Policy. Social Politics 22: 38–59. https://doi.org/10.1093/sp/jxu015.
Boris, Eileen. 1993. What about the Working of the Working Mother? Journal of Women’s History 5 (2): 104–109.
CEPAL, FAO, ONU Mujeres, PNUD, OIT. 2013. Informe Regional. Trabajo decente e igualdad de género. Políticas para mejorar el acceso y la calidad del empleo de las mujeres en América Latina y el Caribe. ILO editions. Accessed January 2015 http://www.ilo.org/santiago/publicaciones/WCMS_233161/lang%2D%2Des/index.htm.
ECLAC. 2011a. Los bonos en la mira: aporte y carga para las mujeres. Santiago de Chile.
———. 2011b. Panorama Social de América Latina. Santiago de Chile.
———. 2012. Panorama Social de América Latina. Santiago de Chile.
———. 2013a. Participación laboral femenina y bono de género en América Latina. CEPAL, Colección Documentos de proyectos.
———. 2013b. Anuario Estadístico de América Latina y El Caribe / Statistical Yearbook for Latin America and The Caribbean. Santiago de Chile.
———. 2014. Panorama Social para América Latina.
Franceschet, Susane, Jennifer Piscopo, and Gwynn Thomas. 2016. Supermadres, Maternal Legacies and Women’s Political Participation in Contemporary Latin America. Journal of Latin American Studies 1 (1): 1–32.
Hutchison, Elizabeth Q., and Jacqueline Spencer Garreaud. 2006. Labores propias de su sexo: género, políticas y trabajo en Chile urbano 1900–1930. LOM Ediciones.
Koven, Seth, and Sonya Michel. 1990. Womanly Duties: Maternalist Politics and the Origins of Welfare States in France, Germany, Great Britain, and the United States, 1880–1920. The American Historical Review 95 (4): 1076–1108. Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Historical Association.
Ladd-Taylor, Molly. 1993. Toward Defining Maternalism in U.S. History. Journal of Women’s History 5 (2): 99–103.
Martínez Franzoni, Juliana, Maxine Molyneux, and Diego Sánchez-Ancochea. 2009. Latin American Capitalism: Economic and Social Policy in Transition. Economy and Society 38 (1): 1–16. Taylor & Francis.
Mauro, Amalia. 2009. Trabajo y empleo femenino en Chile desde 1880 hasta 2000. Su aporte al desarrollo del país desde la economía doméstica, el trabajo voluntario y el trabajo remunerado. Final Report FONDECYT. Accessed December 2014. http://www.cem.cl/publica/trabajo.pdf.
Molyneux, Maxine. 2006. Mothers at the Service of the New Poverty Agenda: Progresa/Oportunidades, Mexico’s Conditional Transfer Program. Social Policy and Administration 40 (4): 425–449.
OECD Society at a Glance. 2016. A Spotlight on Youth “How Does Chile Compares”. Accessed June 2019. https://www.oecd.org/chile/sag2016-chile.pdf.
Orloff, Ann. 1996. Gender in the Welfare State. Annual Review of Sociology 22: 51–78.
Staab, Silke. 2012. Maternalism, Male-Breadwinner Bias, and Market Reform: Historical Legacies and Current Reforms in Chilean Social Policy. Social Politics 19 (3): 299–332.
Taylor-Allen, Ann. 1993. Maternalism in German Feminist Movements. Journal of Women’s History 5 (2): 99–103.
Weiner, Lynn Y. 1993. Maternalism as Paradigm. Journal of Women’s History 5 (2): 95.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2020 The Author(s)
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
de la Cruz, C. (2020). The Persistent Maternalism in Labor Programs. In: Ramm, A., Gideon, J. (eds) Motherhood, Social Policies and Women's Activism in Latin America. Studies of the Americas. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21402-9_11
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-21402-9_11
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-21401-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-21402-9
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)