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A Socio-Legal Family Life Course Analysis of the Legal Regulation of Unpaid Care Work in Austria

Posch, Emma LU (2025) SOLM12 20251
Department of Sociology of Law
Abstract
This thesis examines how unpaid care work within the familial context is legally regulated in Austria and to what extent these legal regulations reinforce the gendered labor of social reproduction. Drawing on Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) as both a theoretical framework and a critical methodology, the thesis analyzes legal texts, policy documents, court decisions, and official statistics. The analysis is structured around the family life course, starting with the coupling phase, marriage, childbearing and -rearing and ending with divorce or death. Thereby the following six legal facets germane to unpaid care work in the familial context are identified: family burden equalization, time policies, protection against discrimination,... (More)
This thesis examines how unpaid care work within the familial context is legally regulated in Austria and to what extent these legal regulations reinforce the gendered labor of social reproduction. Drawing on Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) as both a theoretical framework and a critical methodology, the thesis analyzes legal texts, policy documents, court decisions, and official statistics. The analysis is structured around the family life course, starting with the coupling phase, marriage, childbearing and -rearing and ending with divorce or death. Thereby the following six legal facets germane to unpaid care work in the familial context are identified: family burden equalization, time policies, protection against discrimination, assignment of care responsibility, consequences of failure, and recognition of care. The findings demonstrate that the legal frameworks continue to foist care responsibility unto families and implicitly install women as its default provider. When Austrian law formally acknowledges care work in certain contexts, its recognition remains fragmented, conditional, and most importantly retrospective. Rare redistributive measures are constructed as an option for individual circumstances. Hence, they remain minimally incentivized and underutilized. Viewed through the lens of SRT, the thesis shows the extent to which the legal system is not a neutral arbiter but an active force in the gendered labor of social reproduction. By exploring the structural role of law in sustaining unpaid care work within the familial context as “a woman’s job”, this thesis contributes to socio-legal scholarship and feminist legal critique. (Less)
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author
Posch, Emma LU
supervisor
organization
course
SOLM12 20251
year
type
H1 - Master's Degree (One Year)
subject
keywords
Unpaid Care Work, Social Reproduction Theory, Austrian Legal Frameworks, Socio-Legal Analysis, Documentary Research, Gender and Law, Gender Inequality, Family Life Course
language
English
id
9193890
date added to LUP
2025-06-23 09:39:28
date last changed
2025-06-23 09:39:28
@misc{9193890,
  abstract     = {{This thesis examines how unpaid care work within the familial context is legally regulated in Austria and to what extent these legal regulations reinforce the gendered labor of social reproduction. Drawing on Social Reproduction Theory (SRT) as both a theoretical framework and a critical methodology, the thesis analyzes legal texts, policy documents, court decisions, and official statistics. The analysis is structured around the family life course, starting with the coupling phase, marriage, childbearing and -rearing and ending with divorce or death. Thereby the following six legal facets germane to unpaid care work in the familial context are identified: family burden equalization, time policies, protection against discrimination, assignment of care responsibility, consequences of failure, and recognition of care. The findings demonstrate that the legal frameworks continue to foist care responsibility unto families and implicitly install women as its default provider. When Austrian law formally acknowledges care work in certain contexts, its recognition remains fragmented, conditional, and most importantly retrospective. Rare redistributive measures are constructed as an option for individual circumstances. Hence, they remain minimally incentivized and underutilized. Viewed through the lens of SRT, the thesis shows the extent to which the legal system is not a neutral arbiter but an active force in the gendered labor of social reproduction. By exploring the structural role of law in sustaining unpaid care work within the familial context as “a woman’s job”, this thesis contributes to socio-legal scholarship and feminist legal critique.}},
  author       = {{Posch, Emma}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Socio-Legal Family Life Course Analysis of the Legal Regulation of Unpaid Care Work in Austria}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}