Who Cares, Too? Degenderization of Childcare Policies in Europe: A Dynamic Fuzzy-Set Analysis
追踪2005-2015年九个欧洲国家儿童保育政策的演变，运用去性别化概念和模糊集定性比较分析，发现尽管经济危机和紧缩政策，政策仍趋向促进性别平等，未发生根本转变。
This article traces the evolution of childcare policies in Denmark, Estonia, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Slovenia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom during the period 2005–15 in order to observe changes possibly related to economic crisis. Applying the concept of degenderization and the method of fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fs/QCA), the study examines: (1) equality of parental leave entitlements, (2) generosity of parental leave-related benefits, (3) accessibility of childcare services, and (4) length of all available leave schemes, at six points in time. The argument is that changes within this period did not lead to a radical transformation in childcare policy, while those shifts that took place could be more often characterized as degenderizing, contrary to expectations. Finally, the study identified policy clusters: four types of genderization (strong genderization, with care payment, with care parity, and with activation), strong and weak versions of degenderization, as well as a mixed case.HIGHLIGHTSThis study traces the evolution of childcare policies across nine EU countries during the period of recession between 2005 and 2015.It uses the concept of “degenderization” to develop a typology of childcare policies.A dynamic analysis reveals that despite austerity measures, policies usually remained stable over time.Moreover, despite the crisis, policies tended to promote gender equality in care.Small steps toward degenderization in care policies over time signal that the gender revolution is not “stalled.”