Courses / Module

The objective of this module is to provide students with a critical understanding of the ways in which welfare state is "gendered" and how gender is contoured through the welfare state including through the dimensions of employment, income, social protection, family policy and care. It applies these theoretical insights to the evolution of social policy in Ireland in particular, as well as globally, through the lens of gendered welfare state regimes. The module explores the key areas of social policy that relate to the gendered inequalities in a global context.

It provides an overview of mainstream theoretical explanations and key perspectives on the structure and evolution of social policies, including recent critical contributions on gender and policy; analysis of the dynamic between gender and social policy and politics including feminist critiques and modifications of that literature. The use of gender as a category of analysis is examined with attention also to the effects of intersectionality of gender with key social dimensions including race, ethnicity, sexuality, (dis)ability and social class.

Exploration of the theoretical and empirical evidence base of the continuing differences in the experiences of women and men in the economy in paid labour, with persistent wage differentials, occupational and sectoral segregation and unequal work-life balance; social protection and care; labour market informalization and the impacts on men and women; analysis of the continuation or demise of the ‘male breadwinner’ model.