Introduction

Abstract

In recent years, feminist scholars have tended to think that patriarchy and capitalism should account for women’s inferior status in the labour market. However, the emergence of welfare states has changed relationships between men and women. Women have to face not only a relationship with men and/or capitalism but also a new relationship with the state. Existing theoretical perspectives on social policy have ignored gender dimensions and have been criticized by women scholars. More scholars have begun to notice the importance of the state’s role in relation to women’s status in the labour market (Walby, 1986; Hernes, 1987). The more pessimistic among them, regarded the state’s intervention in women’s issues as a new form of patriarchy (Boris and Bardaglio, 1983), as a force controlling women’s reproduction (Pascall, 1986), or as a drive to combine the oppression of women by patriarchy and capitalism (Cheng and Hsiung, 1994). Others have been more optimistic about state intervention due to women’s access to welfare and state policies (Pillinger, 1992). Using working women as a focus, it is interesting to explore how far the state has used its policies to intervene in the utilization of the female labour force. How does the state deal with the conflict between capitalist development and the maintenance of the traditional family system? Can state policies transform systems of male or/and capitalist dominance to provide an environment of equal opportunities for women?