WELFARE POLICY AND EMPLOYMENT IN THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY CHANGE.

The provision of the post war British welfare state was based on a strongly gender differentiated model of family life, in which men were full time workers and women were full time carers – women and children were financially dependent upon men. The welfare state was based upon a Marshallian (1950) conceptualisation of social citizenship; social rights were the rights to economic welfare and security; a right to the share of full social heritage and to live the life of a civilised being according to the standards prevailing in the society. In the Marshallian conceptualisation of citizenship, paid labour is central. Participation or not in paid work defines the rights of social citizenship for the individual. It was through paid work that individuals became eligible for social benefits and these benefits were on the condition that the individual was prepared to look for and to take up the offer of paid labour (Boje and Almqvist, 2000). In the context of the breadwinner model of the family, the provision of care was recognised as a private issue and, in contrast to paid work, was not considered to be part of the basic needs of citizens (Boje and Almquist, 2000). By placing emphasis on paid work as opposed to care, the male was taken as the norm of the citizen – women and children, by definition were not full citizens and were therefore not entitled to social benefits. But demographic changes and the mass mobilisation of women in the labour market has highlighted the importance of re-examining gender relationships in the labour market, the family and welfare state policy. Part of this involves a reassessment of social rights of citizens on which welfare is based and the capacity and willingness of welfare states to accommodate the needs and demands of different population groups for benefits and services (Boje an