ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to contribute to comparative research on pressures on the welfare state in times of critical junctions. It shows that the collapse of state socialism and the post-2008 fiscal austerity, which both mark the launch of deficit reduction plans, of which local budgets cuts and welfare reforms were an integral part. The chapter discusses a snapshot of dynamic processes in maternal employment between the 1960s and 2015, exploring whether the post-socialist developments led to dismantling childcare policies. It builds on the 'history matters' thesis. The relationship between female/maternal employment and childcare policy in Slovenia has been understood as a normative field, marked by debates on gender roles and the active role of the state in the family. In Slovenia, the structures and decision making about childcare policy and maternal employment, part of the state socialist new society agenda, have not changed significantly since the 1970s.
