Squaring the care trilemma through twofold dualization. Institutional change and diversity in Italy and Spain

Abstract

This paper analyses the role of employment relations in squaring the care trilemma in Italy and Spain. These two countries exhibit similar welfare states and care models, characterised by familistic traditions alongside relatively strong industrial relations systems with encompassing, centralized collective bargaining structures. These institutions, which correlate strongly with labour power and good working conditions, haven’t precluded their deterioration in care provision, hence perpetuating a pattern of twofold dualization, where subsectoral differences between early childhood education and care (ECEC) and long-term care (LTC) services persist in addition to the longstanding public/private divide. Institutional and actor-based explanations should be considered when accounting for differences along the dualization axis. In particular, the fragmentation in trade unions and employer organisations, combined with outsourcing practices in the public sector, has contributed to maintaining the private/public divide in the two subsectors and countries. Finally, the article shows that, although both countries display a similar dualized pattern in addressing the care trilemma, the intensity of these divides varies between them.