Abstract The contribution discusses which modes of regulation have been instituted in the field of childcare and to what extent these and other existing regulations have affected the institutional and gender-specific division of functions and labour. Theorizing and answering these questions can offer a better understanding of why the crisis of care is continuing to deepen despite continued spending growth and reforms. In terms of the current care crisis, the neoliberal restructuring of the welfare state has led to an emphasis on childcare that is geared towards preserving human capital. At the same time, it can be observed that neoliberal, progressive and traditional requirements determine the transformation of childcare, which manifests in the simultaneity of processes of (de)familialisation and (de)commodification processes. Following a regulationist approach and drawing on its understanding of the transformation of the accumulation regime and its mode of regulation from Fordism to neoliberalism, the paper analyses historically and culturally specific developments. In doing so, the political and social regulation of childcare—specifically institutional childcare and family policy—is recognised as an important element of the mode of regulation. Drawing on ideas from critical welfare state analysis as well as feminist political economy, the paper discusses the surprising stability of the current financialised accumulation regime despite the enduring care crisis. The developments in childcare as well as the associated ambiguities, contradictions, inequalities and crises are illustrated against the background of Austrian childcare regime and its reorganisation.
Décieux et al. (2025) studied this question.