Abstract
There has been a remarkable increase in female labour market participation all across Europe. This has brought on the end of the male breadwinner regime (Lewis, 1992) — where women were mostly at home to take on the majority of the care and household maintenance roles. This change in roles of women has had considerable repercussions for day-to-day family life. Most importantly, rising female labour market participation presents severe challenges to the reconciliation of work and family life. Perhaps one of the most tangible manifestations of the changed work–family balance is a growing need for child care among dual-earner families. Various European countries have responded in very different ways to this increased need for child care. Bettio and Plantenga (2004) distinguish between various care regimes within Europe, based on the different principal actors that provide the care (state, market or family), the different care modalities (formal or informal) and the different incentive structures (see Chapters 1 and 2, this volume).
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© 2014 Heejung Chung and Bart Meuleman
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Chung, H., Meuleman, B. (2014). Support for Government Intervention in Child Care across European Countries. In: León, M. (eds) The Transformation of Care in European Societies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137326515_6
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