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Parenting and parenting support in Germany and Sweden: Convergence and persistent dissimilarities

Lundqvist, Åsa LU and Ostner, Ilona (2017) In Zeitschrift fur Familienforschung - Journal of Familiy Research 11. p.313-339
Abstract
„Parenting“ und „Parenting Support“ in Deutschland und Schweden. Konvergenz und fortdauernde Unterschiede.
Abstract (Swedish)
Parenting support constitutes a long-established part of both the Swedish and the German portfolio of public social services. It originated in the 1920s in Germany, the 1930s in Sweden. Support measures and underlying philosophies have steadily changed in both countries, thereafter. The 1990s saw a new ‘turn to parenting’ and also new measures in Sweden and Germany. In this article, we ask how parenting has become recognized and re-defined as a ‘problem’ to which various actors have pinned competing policy solutions. First, we suggest that similar macro-social factors have contributed to the renewed interest in parenting and parenting support. Second, we maintain that several elements of recent parenting support represent a profound change... (More)
Parenting support constitutes a long-established part of both the Swedish and the German portfolio of public social services. It originated in the 1920s in Germany, the 1930s in Sweden. Support measures and underlying philosophies have steadily changed in both countries, thereafter. The 1990s saw a new ‘turn to parenting’ and also new measures in Sweden and Germany. In this article, we ask how parenting has become recognized and re-defined as a ‘problem’ to which various actors have pinned competing policy solutions. First, we suggest that similar macro-social factors have contributed to the renewed interest in parenting and parenting support. Second, we maintain that several elements of recent parenting support represent a profound change in the political articulation of how to support parents in their childrearing, moving both countries further in the same direction. Actors do not operate in a vacuum, though. Timing matters, too. Therefore, third, we assume dissimilarities in the focusing events (Kingdon), which typically support problem recognition and definition in a country, and also path dependent differences in the design and implementation of new measures. The overarching objective of our article is to explore the puzzle of how apparently converging trends in German and Swedish family and parenting support polices can be understood in the light of the historical and institutional differences between the two countries. (Less)
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author
and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
in
Zeitschrift fur Familienforschung - Journal of Familiy Research
volume
11
pages
313 - 339
publisher
Verlag Barbara Budrich
ISSN
1437-2940
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c301f301-27dd-4173-9d9c-fa5a2e2735b6
date added to LUP
2017-10-10 09:19:39
date last changed
2020-04-16 14:06:22
@article{c301f301-27dd-4173-9d9c-fa5a2e2735b6,
  abstract     = {{„Parenting“ und „Parenting Support“ in Deutschland und Schweden. Konvergenz und fortdauernde Unterschiede.<br/>}},
  author       = {{Lundqvist, Åsa and Ostner, Ilona}},
  issn         = {{1437-2940}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  pages        = {{313--339}},
  publisher    = {{Verlag Barbara Budrich}},
  series       = {{Zeitschrift fur Familienforschung - Journal of Familiy Research}},
  title        = {{Parenting and parenting support in Germany and Sweden: Convergence and persistent dissimilarities}},
  volume       = {{11}},
  year         = {{2017}},
}