UK Work/Family Balance Policies and Gender Equality, 1997-2005

Since 1997, the UK has developed policies to address the issue of work/family balance in the form of childcare services, leaves for childcare, and the right to request flexible working patterns. We examine the policy aims and nature of these different approaches and assess how far they promote gender equality, which we define in terms of the possibility of making a “real” or “genuine” choice for men and women to “work and care.”