Foreign Workers or Women? A Comparative Policy Analysis of Labour Supply Strategies in Post-War Europe

Author(s) : Alexandre Afonso

Source : https://www.researchgate.net/publication/311714066_Foreign_Workers_or_Women_A_Comparative_Policy_Analysis_of_Labour_Supply_Strategies_in_Post-War_Europe

Abstract:

Why did some European countries choose to emphasise foreign labour to expand their labour force, while other countries opted for measures to expand female employment via welfare expansion? The paper argues that gender norms and left power resources were important structuring factors in these choices: female employment requires a substantial expansion of state intervention (e.g childcare; paid maternity leave), while migrant recruitment makes it possible to expand the labour supply without such social investments and by preserving traditional gender norms. Using the contrasting cases of Sweden and Switzerland, I argue that a combination of weak labor and conservative gender norms fostered the massive expansion of foreign labour and a late development of female labour force participation in Switzerland, while more progressive gender norms and a strong labour movement put an end to guest worker programs in Sweden and paved the way for policies to promote female labour force participation.