Independence and dependency: Options and constraints for women over the life course
Abstract In western countries, social policies emerged to compensate impacts which result from an unequal distribution of bargaining power in modern market economies. Thus, they provide some options to avoid disadvantageous working conditions. However, by counteracting unequal bargaining situations, social policies produce new inequalities. In all western societies, social policies tend to treat women as workers of a special kind. Some treat women as individuals and citizens; others primarily as mothers or wives, as different but equal, or, in contrast, along the principle of “sameness.” In each case, women's life chances, their life course, and the relationship between independence and dependency are affected in a peculiar way. This article examines the relationship between independence and dependence built into various welfare regimes from a woman's point of view: Which regime helps best to combine both—a family and paid work?