福祉国家の変容と社会的ケア : 雇用・家族・ジェンダー(<特集>調和する社会の諸相)

抄録

The way in which the welfare state changes associated with the family change and the de-regulation of labour market affect the people's lives indicates that it is need to the balancing paid work and family responsibility. The aim of this article is to examine the caring regimes as an alternative to Esping-Andersen's 'de-commodification' from the gender perspective. First, I suggest that the heuristic category of 'social care'(Daly, Mary and Lewis, Jane 1998), which includes both the child care and care for adults. The existing use of the concept of care is fragmented between unpaid and paid caring, care carried out in the informal sector and formal sector, and child and adults care. I suggest that such dichotomies can be overcome by using the category of social care. After examining the caring regimes and the social care as heuristic category, I investigate the work-life balance policy in Japan in terms of the logic. Policy maker and scholars have promoted work-life balance policy in Japan. However, neoclassical economics does not construct the term of public debate of work-life balance and feminists interpreted in policy issues cannot afford to ignore its power. Feminist Economics has struggled to examine the interface between the family and the labour market. I suggest that the methodological individualism of neoclassical economics bypasses real-world problems which women face.