This study is the first to explicitly assess the connections between welfare state spending and the gendered and classed dimensions of unpaid care work across 29 European nations. Our research uses multi-level model analysis of European Quality of Life Survey data, examining childcare and housework burdens for people living with at least one child under the age of 18. Two key findings emerge: First, by disaggregating different types of unpaid care work, we find that childcare provision is more gendered than classed—reflecting trends toward “intensive mothering”. Housework and cooking, on the contrary, demonstrate both gender and class effects, likely because they are more readily outsourced by wealthier individuals to the paid care sector. Second, while overall social expenditure has no effect on hours spent on childcare and housework, results suggest that family policy may shape the relationship between gender, income, and housework (but not childcare). Specifically, family policy expenditure is associated with a considerably smaller gender gap vis-à-vis the time dedicated to housework: This effect is present across the income spectrum, but is particularly substantial in the case of lower income women.

这项研究首次明确评估了福利国家支出与 29 个欧洲国家的无偿护理工作的性别和分类维度之间的联系。我们的研究使用欧洲生活质量调查数据的多层次模型分析，检查至少有一个 18 岁以下孩子的人的育儿和家务负担。 两个主要发现出现：首先，通过分解不同类型的无偿护理工作，我们发现托儿服务的性别比分类更多——反映了“密集育儿”的趋势。相反，家务和做饭表现出性别和阶级的影响，可能是因为它们更容易被富裕的人外包给有偿护理部门。其次，虽然整体社会支出对花在育儿和家务上的时间没有影响，结果表明，家庭政策可能会影响性别、收入和家务劳动（但不影响育儿）之间的关系。具体而言，家庭政策支出与用于家务劳动的时间相比，性别差距要小得多：这种影响存在于整个收入范围内，但在低收入女性的情况下尤为明显。