Having it Both Ways? Social Policy and the Positioning of Women in Relation to Men

Anne Else

New Zealand has long had a gendered division of labour as a basic principle of social organisation, such that men earn income for paid work while women provide unpaid caregiving and household services.

The history of New Zealand social policy can be read as a history of attempts to deal with the consequences of this different positioning, while continuing to uphold it. Despite changes in women’s participation in the labour market, women still predominate in welfare receipt and the gender gap in earnings is significant - and is widening again. The primary cause of women’s disadvantageous financial position, and their consequent high level of financial dependence (on male earnings or the state) remains their responsibility for unpaid work, particularly childcare.

A policy consequence of women’s greater labourforce participation is a trend to assert simultaneously that women are different from men (in terms of their ability and willingness to provide “free” care) and that they are the same as men (in terms of their ability to support themselves and their families with their earnings).

The paper concludes by looking at the need to resolve these “contradictory policies”, and to move away from a social model that incorporates a gendered division of labour.