In my final thesis, I analyse the development of childcare system in Slovenia, which was
established during the period of socialism, and the impact of changes to or the maintenance of
that system on the division of work and responsibility within the family. I am particularly
interested in how transitional conditions in Slovenia influenced the network of public
kindergartens, which was established and functioned well during the period of socialism, and
in the impact of related changes on changes to or the maintenance of existing gender relations.
In the first part of my final thesis, I therefore present the gender-related specifics of care work,
with a special emphasis on childcare. State measures can contribute to the redistribution of
childcare and relief for families, particularly women, in this regard. For this reason, I then
analyse childcare systems in relation to the welfare state. In the third chapter, I present changes
during the transitional period and devote special attention to the transition of the welfare state
in Slovenia and its impact on gender (in)equality. In the second part of my final thesis, I use,
based on the previously mentioned transitional conditions, statistical data and legislation to
analyse the development of a specific segment of the welfare state – public kindergartens. First,
I present their development in the period of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and
then analyse trends in connection with the transfer of childcare to the private sphere and/or to
private childcare organizations for preschool children during the transition in Slovenia, with an
emphasis on the 1990s. Through the analysis of some general factors in connection with the
transition (of the welfare state), and specific factors in connection with care facilities for
preschool children, I used a comparative perspective to show how the combination of different
factors contributed to the preservation of the dense network of public kindergartens and also to
the preservation of related gender relations in Slovenia.
|
