Love, money, and gender divisions of labour: some critical reflections on welfare-to-work policies in the UK

The aim of this contribution to the debates section is to raise some research and policy questions about childcare which has become a key policy issue for the British Government. Childcare currently is a central plank of both the economic efficiency and the social exclusion agenda, as exemplified in welfare-to-work policies which aim to address the under-employment of low income parents as well as the social exclusion of working class children in certain parts of British cities. The uniting focus of this dual aim is the expansion of paid work for women, especially for single mothers and so childcare has become a key economic issue. Behind the introduction of welfare-to-work policies is a belief in the economic rationality of parents, especially mothers, who, it is believed, will use state-provide childcare to facilitate their labour market entry if the price of care is low enough and the standards acceptable. However, this assertion of economic rationality is challenged by research that documents parents' (especially mothers') moral commitments to their care for their dependants personally or through other forms of family-based provision. This commitment may limit the success of current welfare-to-work policies and/or suggest that new policy options may need to be considered, especially if greater social equity is an underlying aim. Suggestions for a new or expanded research agenda are included throughout the paper.