ABSTRACT
In the European Union gender equality has been recognised as a fundamental value in the Treaty of the European Union and implicitly as an economic good in the female employment rate and childcare targets of the recent Lisbon Process (EC 2009; see Chapter 8, this volume). Although gender equality is widely regarded as a worthwhile goal, it is also seen as having potential costs or even acting as a constraint on economic growth; while this view may not be evident in policy statements it remains implicit in policy decisions and practice. Times of economic crisis further encourage the view that equality is a ‘fair weather policy’, an option that is going to ‘cost something’ (for example, public expenditure associated with childcare provision) or entails additional regulation for business that could be to its detriment (such as various leave provisions, etc.). The view that equality is also a constraint or a cost has hampered its integration as a positive factor in policy development, particularly in the field of economic policy. This limiting view also has the effect of narrowing the scope of potential benefits from advances towards gender equality, focusing on the short term and relying on the status quo as the model with which to compare progress.
