Rethinking the residual policy response: Lessons from Hong Kong older women's responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

This article examines older women's experiences of searching for face masks and handling mask-related issues during COVID-19. Set within the context of the Hong Kong government's policy reaction to the shortage of masks in early 2020, the article draws on interviews with 40 older women in Hong Kong to identify their various forms of vulnerability to welfare threats and their active and diverse responses in times of crisis. The findings reveal the implications of the government's residual policy response for people's vulnerability to welfare threats. They also carry practical implications for the support that social workers can provide.

Adult Worker Model Typologies: Examining Work-Family Policies in Fifteen European Countries

This article aims to advance the discussion of government policies for improving women's work and family life. It focuses on exploring whether it is reasonable to expect that the supported adult worker model will play an important role in guiding governments to reduce the gender employment gap and, at the same time, increase women's resources for strengthening their control over family and work life. This model posits that governments should take a proactive approach to encouraging women to take part in formal employment, such as providing care support measures. To examine the impact of the model, this article develops an 'input adult worker model typology' and an 'output adult worker model typology' using cluster analysis of comparative data covering 15 countries. The findings show that it is important not to overestimate the impact of the supported adult worker model on reducing the gender employment gap or increasing women's control over their lives in most of the 15 countries. The evidence generated from these typologies highlights the difficulties involved in promoting women's welfare despite the use of the adult worker model as a substitute for the male-breadwinner model.

Defamilisation/familisation measures and pensions in Hong Kong and Taiwan

This article discusses the link between familisation measures (to lower the negative consequences of participating in the family as a care-provider) and defamilisation measures (to reduce individual responsibility for providing care in the family), and pensions for women. To enhance women's chance of having a secure retirement life, it makes two suggestions: government should provide defamilisation measures to assist women to accumulate pension income through work-based pension measures; and government should provide familisation measures extensively as an alternative to these measures. It also demonstrates how the case examples of Hong Kong and Taiwan provide support to these two suggestions.