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"In this discussion paper we set out to provide a critical perspective on the supposed successes of the Japanese and German employment system by focusing on the rise of marginal and female employment. We examine this in terms of the institutionalisation of a class and gender compromise that embedded a strong male-breadwinner gender contract. This compromised women's positions and standardised employment contracts around the needs, interests and authority of men. In both countries, women's secondary employment status often renders them dependent on income transfers from an individual full-time male worker. These 'successful' breadwinner models have been built on union demands for a 'family wage' and redistributive tax systems that create incentives for women to reduce their labour force participation, creating stark insider/ outsider forms of segmentation. The embedded nature of this model in the world of work and welfare, and the principles of organisation in the public and private spheres, constrain the options for reform and renewal. Adding to the current weaknesses both societies face, the increase of female integration in paid employment, the growth of marginal work, changing household forms and values, are forcing governments to reconsider how to reform existing employment, tax and welfare arrangements. We examine whether attempts to weaken the traditional breadwinner model, in the face of current economic problems, may in fact lead to undermining the conditions for core employees, and the pillars of success that supported a strong breadwinner model in the past." (author's abstract)
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