Fatherhood-Oriented Family Policies in the Context of Welfare Regimes

Recently, family policies are becoming prominent as one of the basic fields in which gender ideology is reproduced and sustained. Since the last quarter of the 20th century, in parallel with the increasing systematic efforts towards the development of family welfare, it has been seen that new practices such as fatherhood-oriented family policies are brought to agenda. Important differences that vary from country to country come into question in these practices that emerged and shaped as part of the gender ideology. Despite the fact that legal and political measures have been taken towards the development of family policies at European Union level for both women and men; it has been observed that these differences continue to exist. Three worlds of welfare typology suggested by Esping-Andersen in 1990, even after all this time, still stands as a valid reference guide in accordance with the explanation of family policies that differ by the characteristics of the support applied towards the family in general, and fatherhood in particular. Within the frame of the purpose of revealing how the fatherhood-oriented family policies are shaped under the influence of the gender ideology in the context of welfare governments; family policy practices which are prevalent in liberal, conservative and social democratic welfare governments are comparatively analyzed as part of this study