The conditions for women's employment have changed profoundly in Sweden in the early 1990s. Employment rates are failing and unemployment rising. The changes are associated with a radical redirection of economic policy as economic stability has replaced full employment as the primary objective. Relatedly there has been a retraction and restructuring of the welfare state which plays a dual role as the facilitator of women's employment and their main labour market The implications for women of the simultaneous cuts in both of these spheres are investigated. The article explores the employment changes associated with this changing labour-market regime at national and regional levels. In particular, the implications of the new regime for women's ability to attain economic independence are studied by examining change on two key employment dimensions flexibility and stability.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Acker, J.
(forthcoming) Towards a New Sociology. London: Sage.
2.
Borchorst, A. (1991) Europeisk integration, konsarbejdesdelning og likestillingspolitik, stencil. Institute of Political Science, University of Aarhus. Denmark.
3.
Borchorst, A.
(1994) 'Welfare State Regimes, Women's Interests and the EC', in D. Sainsbury (ed.) Gendering Welfare States, pp. 26-44. London: Sage.
4.
Boyer, R.
(1990) Regulation Theory: a Critical Introduction. New York: Columbia University Press.
5.
Dunford, M.
(1990) 'Theories of Regulation', Environment and Planning D: Society and Space8: 297-321.
6.
Esping-Andersen, G.
(1990) The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism. Cambridge: Polity Press.
7.
Eurostat (1993) 3 D, Unemployed women in the EC. Statistical facts.
8.
Freeman, R.B.
, Swedenborg, B. and Topel, R. (1995) Valfirdsstat i omvandling (Reforming the Welfare State), The NBER Report. Stockholm: SNS.
9.
Gonas, L.
and Spint, A. (1996) 'Trends and Prospects for Women's Employment in the 1990s', The Swedish Report. National Report to the European Network of Experts on the Situation of Women in the Labour Market, Working Paper. Manchester: UMIST.
10.
Gonas, L.
, Johansson, S. and Svard, I. (1995) Vad hander med kvinnors arbete nar den offentliga sektorn skar ned? (What Happens to Women's Work When the Public Sector Cuts Back?), Undersokningsrapport: 22. Stockholm: Arbetslivsinstitutet.
11.
Goodwin, M.
, Duncan, S. and Halford, S. (1993) 'Regulation Theory, the Local State and the Transition of Urban Politics', Environment and Planning D: Society and Space11: 67-88.
12.
Government Bill (Regeringens skrivelse) (1995) 1990/91:50. Stockholm.
13.
Gustafsson, S. (1997) Feministisk politik och ekonomisk effektivitet (Feminist Policy and Economic Efficiency), unpublished paper presented at a seminar by FRN (October), Stockholm.
14.
Hobson, B.
(1994) 'Solo Mothers, Social Policy Regimes and the Logics of Gender', in D. Sainsbury (ed.) Gendering Welfare States, pp. 170-187. London: Sage.
15.
Humphries, J.
and Rubery, J. (eds) (1995) 'Economics of Equal Opportunities', EOC report. Manchester: EOC.
16.
Jessop, B.
(1990) 'Regulation Theories in Retrospect and Prospect', Economy and Society19: 153-216.
17.
Jessop, B.
(1994) 'The Transition to Post-Fordism and the Schumpeterian Workfare State', in R. Burrows and B. Loader (eds) Towards a Post-Fordist Welfare State?London: Routledge.
18.
Keinanen, P.
(1996) 'Trends and Prospect for Women's Employment in the 1990s', The Finnish Report. National Report to the European Network of Experts on the Situation of Women in the Labour Market, Working Paper. Manchester: UMIST.
19.
Kennett, P.
(1994) 'Exclusion, Post-Fordism and the "New Europe"', in P. Brown and R. Crompton (eds) A New Europe? Economic Restructuring and Social Exclusion. London: UCL Press.
20.
Kolberg, J.E.
(1991) (ed.) The Welfare State as Employer. New York: Sharpe Inc.
21.
Kolberg, J.E.
and Esping-Andersen, G. (1991) 'Welfare States and Employment Regimes', in J.E. Kolberg, (ed.) The Welfare State as Employer. New York: Sharpe Inc.
22.
Labour Force Survey
(1989). Statistics Sweden. Stockholm.
23.
Labour Force Survey
(1990). Statistics Sweden. Stockholm.
24.
Labour Force Survey
(1995). StatisticsSweden. Stockholm.
25.
Leira, A.
(1992) Welfare States and Working Mothers: the Scandinavian Experience. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
26.
Lewis,J.
(1992) 'Gender and the Development of Welfare Regimes'Journal ofEuropean Social Policy2 (3): 159-173.
27.
Lewis, J.
(1993) 'Women, Work, Family and Social Policies in Europe', in J. Lewis (ed.) Women and Social Politics in Europe, pp. 1-24. London: Edward Elgar.
28.
Lewis, J.
(1996) Genus och valfardssystem: nigra synpunkter (Gender and Welfare Systems: Some Points of Departure), in Kvinnorna och valfarden (Women and the Welfare State). Stockholm: FRN.
29.
Lewis, J.
and Ostner, I. (1995) 'Gender and the Evolution of European Social Policies', in S. Liebfried and P. Pierson (eds) European Social Policy, pp. 159-193. Washington: The Brookings Institution.
30.
LO (1994) LO granskar. Fortidspensionering och arbetsmiljo, No. 4. Stockholm.
31.
Meulders, D.
, Plasman, R. and Stricht, V.V. (1993) Position of Women in the Labour Market in the European Community. Aldershot: Dartmouth.
32.
Ministry of Finance
(1995) The Convergence Programme. Stockholm: Ministry of Finance.
33.
National Labour Market Board (1995) Ura 2: 6.
34.
O'Connor, J.
(1993) 'Gender, Class and Citizenship in the Comparative Analysis of Welfare State Regimes: Theoretical and Methodological Issues', British Journal of Sociology44 (3): 501-518.
35.
Orloff, A.S.
(1993) 'Gender and the Social Rights of Citizenship: the Comparative Analysis of Gender Relations and Welfare States', American Sociological Review58 (3): 303-328.
36.
Perrons, D.
(1995) 'Economic Strategies, Welfare Regimes and Gender Inequality in Employment in the European Union', European Urban and Regional Studies2: 99-120.
37.
Pollert, A.
(ed.) (1991) Farewell to Flexibility?Oxford: Blackwell.
38.
RFV
(1996) Sammanstallning over forandringar i regelsystemet inom socialforsakringsomradet seden 1968. (Overview of Changes in the Regulations Concerning Social Insurance since 1968). Stockholm: RiksforVkringsverket.
39.
Rosen, S.
(1995) 'Public Employment and the Welfare State in Sweden', NBER/SNS Project Reforming the Welfare State, Occasional Paper No. 61 (January). Stockholm: SNS.
40.
Rothstein, B. (1994) Vad bor staten gora? Om valfirdsstatens moraliska och politiska logik. Stockholm: SNS.
41.
Rubery, J.
, Smith, M. and Fagan, C. (1996) 'Trends and Prospects for Women's Employment in the 1990s', summary report to for the European Network of Experts on the Situation of Women in the Labour Market, Working Paper. Manchester: UMIST.
42.
Sainsbury, D.
(ed.) (1994) Gendering Welfare States. London: Sage.
43.
Schmid, G.
(1994) Women and Structural Change. New Perspectives. Paris: OECD.
44.
Schunter-Kleemann, S. (ed.) (1992) Herrenhaus Europa Geschlechterverhaltnisse im Wohlfahrtsstaat. Berlin: Edition Sigma.
45.
Siim, B.
(1993) 'The Gendered Scandinavian Welfare States: the Interplay between Women's Roles as Mothers, Workers and Citizens in Denmark', in J. Lewis (ed.) Women and Social Policies in Europe. Work, Family and the State, pp. 25-48. Aldershot: Edward Elgar.
46.
Socialstyrelsen (1995):4. Socialbidrag och socialbidragstagare. Stockholm.
47.
TCO (1995) Offentlig sektor, horisont 2 000. Stockholm.
48.
Williams, F.
(1994) 'Social Relations, Welfare State and the Post-Fordist Debate', in R. Burrows and B. Loader (eds) Towards a Post-Fordist Welfare State. London: Routledge.
49.
Williams, F.
(1995) 'Race, Ethnicity, Gender and Class in Welfare States: a Framework for Comparative Analysis', Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, States and Society2 (2): 127-159.
