The Role of Religion for the Development of Work-Family Policies: The Example of Confucianism

In The Role of Religion for the Development of Work-Family Policies: The Example of Confucianism, Ito Peng and Alex Payette’s chapter in The Oxford Handbook of Family Policy Over The Life Course, the authors compare current work-family policies in China, Singapore, and Japan. They investigate the impact of Confucian principles on care policy and provision in each country, both by the individual family unit and by the welfare state.

Ito Peng is the Canada Research Chair in Global Social Policy, Professor of Sociology and Public Policy at the Department of Sociology and the School of Public Policy and Governance, and the Director of the Centre for Global Social Policy.

Citation

Peng, Ito, and Alex Payette, ‘The Role of Religion for the Development of Work-Family Policies: The Example of Confucianism’, in Mary Daly, and others (eds), The Oxford Handbook of Family Policy Over The Life Course (2023; online edn, Oxford Academic, 23 Feb. 2023), https://doi.org/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780197518151.013.14

Abstract

The main focus of the chapter is on the role of Confucianism for cross-national differences in the contemporary work-family policies in East and Southeast Asian countries. The policies of these welfare states, which represent the “Confucian” welfare regime, are characterized by family policies that traditionally are strongly based on family obligations for care and a weak welfare state. However, more recently, many of these countries have begun to strengthen the role of welfare states in order to support families’ care needs. In order to answer their research question, the authors compare current work-family policies in China, Singapore, and Japan, using a Most Similar System Design (MSSD) method. They find that these countries are charting distinct family policy paths by “handling” Confucian ideas differently. The differences can be explained, according to the findings, by these countries’ policy legacies and social and institutional contexts.

Ito Peng and Alex Payette