ABSTRACT
There are two main sets of issues which the chapters in this part address. The first is the historical interrelationship between the system of social reproduction and production: changes in the family economy and in state support for social reproduction help to shape the pattern of women’s participation in the wage economy, but influences flow also in the other direction, with labour market opportunities shaping family organisation. These issues are considered from a longer term historical perspective, emphasizing the specific country systems of family organisation and state and institutional policy, which evolve out of a particular social, political and economic context.
