Work · Sociology & Social Theory
The Incomplete Revolution: Adapting to Women’s New Roles
Women’s rising education and employment have transformed families, but the revolution is incomplete: where policies and men lag behind, fertility falls and inequality between families grows; Esping-Andersen argues for welfare policies that support gender equality and early childhood.
Introduction
Esping-Andersen published “The Incomplete Revolution” in 2009 with Polity Press. It starts from what Esping-Andersen calls the revolution in women’s roles – the rise in women’s education, employment and economic independence – and argues that it has so far remained incomplete and unevenly spread, advancing furthest among highly educated women. The book discusses the consequences for partnership and the division of domestic work, for the gap between the number of children people want and the number they have, and for inequality between households, since partners increasingly share similar levels of education. It ends with proposals for a welfare state that invests in young children and supports a gender-equal division of paid and unpaid work, so that the revolution in women’s roles does not deepen social inequality.
Connections
Builds on
- The Three Worlds of Welfare Capitalism1990 · Gøsta Esping-Andersen
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