Book Review: Gender Equality in the Welfare State
| Author | Vicki Paskalia |
| Published date | 01 September 2013 |
| Date | 01 September 2013 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/138826271301500306 |
| Subject Matter | Book Review |
Book Review
314 Intersentia
tested bene ts and services, undermine trust and trust in government is needed to
establish more universa l welfare states, characterise d by bene ts and services that a re
available to all, do es that imply that there is no way out for residual welfare st ates? And
what are the implications of Rothstein’s analysis for the possibility of convergence
among European welfare st ates, i.e. for the idea that, as a result of the twin e ects
of globalisation and European integration, di erent European welfare states may be
becoming more similar? Anyone interested in these questions such as these should
read this book.
Michael Adler
University of Edinburgh
United Ki ngdom
Michael Adler is Emeritus Profess or of Socio-Legal Studies in the Sc hool of Social and
Political Science at the University of Ed inburgh and Joint Editor of EJSS.
Gillian Pas call, Gende r Equality in the Welfare State, Bristol, e Policy Press,
2012, 224 pp., ISBN 978–1–84742–665–9 (hardcover), ISBN 978–1–84742–664 –2
(paperba ck).
Gillian Pa scall’s book is about gender equality in t he contemporary UK welfare state.
It examines the root s of gender di erence in welfare policies and inst itutions, and the
changes that have occurred in recent years to re ect new norms in gender equality.
It also compares prevailing assumptions and institutions relevant to gender equality
in the UK with the assumptions and institutions in other developed countries. e
book is organised around t he male breadwinner/female career model, on which t he
UK’s welfare policies were built in the post-war period, and asks how much it has
changed. Five areas are studied in order to explore gender inequalities within the
male breadwinner model, and to est imate the importance of the changes that have
occurred in recent yea rs: changes in power, employment, care, income and time.
Chapter one is a general introduction to t he gender assumptions that underpinned
the social welfare system in the UK in the post-war period. It shows that the idea of
universal citizenship, which lay at the heart of the development of the NHS and the
universal education system, did not prevail in the elds of social security and social
care. Changing families have chal lenged the prevailing model of male breadwinner
and female carer, and the chapter concludes with a su ggestion for a model of universal
citizenship to support men’s care as well as women’s work and an equal division of
responsibilit ies.
Chapter two is a comparative exa mination of gender and care di erences between
welfare states. It argue s for the importance of social policie s to bring about changes, in
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