A gender-responsive policy ecosystem, comprising inclusive labour markets, employment and care policies, is fundamental for the well-being of families (European Union, 2019). Social security policies work within this broader enabling environment to address gender and other inequalities across the life course; in childhood, in working age, and in old age. Concretely, gender-responsive social security entails: child-focused benefits that avoid entrenching existing inequalities while promoting women’s employment; working-age benefits that promote shared responsibility for child rearing and help preserve women’s attachment to the labour market; and old-age pension systems that acknowledge labour market inequalities and mitigate against their expression in pension outcomes (Figure 1).

Figure 1. A whole system approach for addressing inequalities over the life course

The special protection programme for unemployed women in Albania (Social Insurance Institute, 2024), which has been in operation since 2023, provides social security coverage for unemployed women who need to care for  children. The programme aims to support women facing challenges in the labour market due to childcare responsibilities and a low family income. By providing subsidies for social insurance contributions, the initiative seeks to alleviate financial burdens and ensure that women with multiple children have access to crucial social security benefits.

Concretely, following its Decision No. 751 and Directive No. 670 issued in December 2022, the Albanian Government established a programme to support unemployed women with three or more children under 18, at least one of whom is under 5, and a family income of up to 100,000 Albanian Leks per month. The programme pays these women's social and health contributions for the first five years of the third child’s life, addressing challenges such as difficulties in finding or keeping a job due to childcare responsibilities, lower wages for women, and lack of social security coverage while caring for children.

The implementation of the Special Protection Programme involves a streamlined application process through the e-Albania government portal. Beneficiaries apply online, with their details automatically populated from electronic registers of Civil Status and the Tax System. This efficient process simplifies applications and ensures prompt delivery of support to eligible women. Additionally, the programme includes monthly verification of children's ages and family income to control eligibility criteria and prevent misuse of benefits.

The programme has had a positive impact, financing social and health insurance contributions for 5,210 unemployed women in its first month. By August 2023, a total of 7,233 unemployed women had benefited from the programme. The special protection for unemployed women aims to integrate employment and social policies, develop the necessary legal basis to support the reconciliation of work and family responsibilities and contribute to providing social security coverage for every citizen.

Sharing family leave between parents: Focus on the facts – Kela, Finland

The Social Insurance Institution of Finland (Kansaneläkelaitos - Kela) developed a project to support the family leave reform introduced in 2022. The reform aimed to encourage a more balanced distribution of family leave and childcare responsibilities between parents, promoting gender equality in the labour market. However, financial concerns often deterred fathers from taking full advantage of the family leave available to them.

The key objectives of the practice included enabling parents to make informed decisions about family leave, supporting equality goals and increasing awareness of the financial impact of sharing parental leave.

To address this, Kela developed an easy-to-use online calculator that allows parents to estimate the financial impact of sharing family leave (Social Insurance Institution, Finland, 2024), and compare the financial implications of different family leave arrangements. The first tool of this kind, was launched in Finland in February 2023. It combines data from several different online calculators offered by Kela and the Finnish Tax Administration. This innovative tool calculates benefits and tax consequences simultaneously, providing parents with a clearer understanding of their financial situation during family leave (Social Insurance Institution, Finland, n.d.).

The project revealed that even with a significant income gap between parents, it is usually financially beneficial for the higher-earning parent to take their full family leave. The benefits of sharing family leave can amount to thousands of euros, enabling more equal sharing of care responsibilities in line with the reform’s intended objectives.

The tool has been well-received, with 50-100 users per day, and has proven useful for parents and experts needing clear information on parental leave and associated benefits. The success of the project has led to plans to translate the user interface into Swedish and English in 2024, and the possibility of publishing the calculator as open-source software is being considered.

These results highlight the importance of balancing complex calculations with user-friendliness and the necessity of involving benefit system professionals in software development. In this vein, the development of the calculator was informed by the ISSA Guidelines on Communication by Social Security Administrations (ISSA, 2022a) and the ISSA Guidelines on Information and Communication Technology (ISSA, 2022b).

The initiative achieved its objectives of informed decision-making, equality promotion, and public awareness enhancement – all of which are critical to ensure the success of a broader gender-responsive policy system.

Protecting and creating child daycare places – Centre of Expertise for the Care of Young Children – CNAF, France

The National Family Allowances Fund (Caisse nationale des allocations familiales – CNAF) in France implemented a service in 2022 to protect and create daycare centres for young children – so-called “crèches” (National Family Allowances Fund, 2024a).

While daycare centres are the preferred form of childcare for young parents in France, there is a significant shortage of such places, with a shortfall of around 200,000. To address this, the CNAF established the Centre of Expertise for the Care of Young Children (Centre d’expertise pour l’accueil du jeune enfant - CEPAJE). The CEPAJE is a resource centre composed of four expert consultants with diverse areas of expertise related to setting up day care centres. They provide technical support and advice to the Family Allowances Funds (Caisses d’allocations familiales – CAF), which are the main funders of daycare centres.

The CEPAJE’s work is tailored to the needs of the CAFs and covers all stages of setting up a crèche, from initial analysis and diagnostics to seeking funding, advising on premises, team building and deciding on appropriate management methods. They also organize presentations and webinars to raise awareness about certain topics.

The creation of the CEPAJE has led to positive results, including support for seven projects to set up daycare centres, running eight themed training sessions, five webinars, and exchanges on innovative practices through interviews with 20 “crèches”. The CEPAJE’s initiatives align with certain guidelines from the ISSA Guidelines on Administrative Solutions for Coverage Extension (ISSA, 2022c) and the ISSA Guidelines on Communication by Social Security Administrations (ISSA, 2022a).

Interactive tool on having children – CNAF, France

To assist parents in navigating the available support , the National Family Allowance Fund (Caisse nationale des allocations familiales – CNAF) in France has developed an interactive tool. This tool has been in operation since 2023 and aims to help parents and future parents find their way around the different support services available. (National Family Allowances Fund, 2024b).

The tool is accessible from the “I’m expecting a child” page on the caf.fr website. It provides targeted, personalized information based on the user’s responses to a few questions. Depending on their answers, users are directed to the appropriate place to complete paperwork, learn about their rights, or book a personalized appointment. The tool also directs users to online information sheets about different services that are available.

With almost 2,000 births a day, there are many families in need of support, while at the same time, family models are undergoing significant change in France. The tool aims to facilitate access to information and rights for parents and parents-to-be, offering personalized support from pregnancy to the child’s third birthday.

The tool is innovative because it personalizes content based on each family’s situation, with 160 possible combinations of answers and corresponding services provided by the CAFs and partner organizations. The tool was co-developed with eight CAFs whose staff are used to helping new and future parents participating in the process.

The tool has been well received, with more than 120,000 visits recorded on the “child’s arrival” interactive pathway page between January and August 2023 and is seen as a successful practice in improving access to public rights and providing comprehensive support at key moments in people’s lives.

Supporting registered women employment (Women-Up) – SSI, Türkiye

In Türkiye in 2021, the Social Security Institution of (Sosyal Güvenlik Kurumu – SGK) implemented the project “Operation on supporting registered women employment (Women-Up)” to increase registered women’s employment and make entrepreneurial women more resilient to competition (Social Security Institution, Türkiye, 2024).

The project also aims at combating unregistered employment, increasing the formal employment of women, and supporting entrepreneurship among women, while also raising awareness of the challenges women entrepreneurs face. The project targets young enterprises that are newly opened by women employers and employing additional women.

The Women-Up project aims to increase the labour force participation and employment rates of women through the creation of new jobs for women. It also aims to support women’s entrepreneurship and improve their professional skills, along with the employability of their women employees. In this line, this initiative was informed by the ISSA Guidelines on Promotion of Sustainable Employment (ISSA, 2022d).

The project is being implemented in seven different provinces in Türkiye with the goal of financially supporting 4,000 female employers for employing one additional female worker. Female employers receive grants up to the net amount of the minimum wage, not exceeding 65 per cent of the cost of the minimum wage to the employer, for a maximum of 20 months.

The project also includes awareness-raising activities and research activities. Beneficiaries, especially female employers and female employees, non-governmental organizations and other relevant parties will benefit from research and support activities. Future policy recommendations will be presented through the outputs.

Overall, the project has been successful and is expected to have a lasting impact on women’s employment in Türkiye. At the end of the project, it is expected that around 16,000 women will benefit from its measures, including employers and their workers registered under the social security system. According to a survey conducted on 1,626 women employers who benefited from the project, nearly 70 per cent of these employers are considering employing their workers after the grant support ends. The project will continue in 2024 and is expected to be extended further.

Critical success factors

Taken together, the initiatives above in Albania, Finland, France and Türkiye owe their success to a combination of factors, including high levels of government support, the development of personalized information and awareness-raising, active use of digitization and innovation, and supportive governance and institutional environments.

• Government support: All four projects are backed by their respective governments, ensuring they have the necessary resources and authority to implement their initiatives. In Albania, the government’s support in providing special protection to unemployed women with three or more children was crucial for the project’s success (Social Security Institute, 2024). In Finland, a family leave reform was introduced to encourage more even distribution of family leave and childcare responsibilities between parents. The government’s commitment to supporting equality aims in the Finnish family leave reform was a key factor in the project’s success (Social Security Institution, Finland, 2024). In France, the CNAF supports the creation of new child daycare centre places. The government’s aim to facilitate access to information and rights for parents and parents-to-be played a significant role in the project’s success (National Family Allowance Fund, 2024a). In Türkiye, the government provides direct financial support to female employers for hiring additional female workers, demonstrating a high level of commitment to success (Social Security Institution, Türkiye, 2024).
• Personalized information and awareness: All the projects place a strong emphasis on providing personalized information and raising awareness. In Albania, the project provided clear information about the benefits and the application process. This increased awareness among potential beneficiaries and helped them navigate the application process (Social Security Institute, 2024). In Finland, the online calculator helps parents make informed decisions about sharing family leave, challenging their assumptions about the best distribution of time and resources (Social Security Institution, Finland, 2024). In France, the CEPAJE organizes presentations and webinars for the entire network, raising awareness about certain topics (CNAF France, 2024a), while the Interactive tool on having children provides targeted information based on each family’s situation (CNAF France, 2024b). This increased awareness among potential beneficiaries about their rights and the benefits available to them. In Türkiye, the project provides clear information about the benefits and the application process, including grant support for female employers. Awareness campaigns and training programmes have been key factors in the project’s success as they helped women understand the benefits of the programme and how to participate (Social Security Institution, Türkiye, 2024).
• Digitalization and innovation: All the projects leverage digital platforms and innovative solutions to make their services more accessible and efficient, prioritizing the user experience in their design. In Albania, the application process is simplified through the e-Albania government portal (Social Security Institute, 2024). In Finland, an easy-to-use online calculator with a user-friendly interface was created to help parents understand the financial impact of sharing family leave. The practice in Finland demonstrates the successful use of technology and data-driven decision-making to encourage equitable family leave distribution, promote gender equality, and provide valuable financial insights to parents (Social Security Institution, Finland, 2024). The project in France created an interactive tool that provides personalized information (National Family Allowances Fund, 2024b). In Türkiye, the project developed an operation to support registered women employment (Women-Up) with a focus on user-friendly processes (Social Security Institution, Türkiye, 2024).
• Governance and institutional capacity of the implementing organizations have been crucial for the successful implementation and acceptance of the projects. In addition, the calculator that allows parents to estimate the financial impact of sharing family leave in Finland was developed by the staff of the Social Insurance Institution of Finland (KELA) (Social Security Institution, Finland, 2024) and staff from the National Family Allowances Fund (CNAF) participated to the development of the interactive tool on having children (National Family Allowances Fund, 2024b). This also highlights the importance of ensuring that service design processes rely on the expertise of front-office staff who are most experienced regarding the reality and needs of diverse families.

These factors not only contributed to the successful implementation and acceptance of all projects, leading to their widespread use and positive feedback from users, but also played a significant role in supporting families and increasing women’s employment capacity.

Final remarks

The initiatives presented in this article underscore some practical approaches employed to support women and families in different national contexts. These practices reflect a collective effort to address the challenges faced by women in the workforce, and families in balancing work and personal life. They emphasize the importance of social support systems in promoting gender equality and family well-being.

The initiatives in Albania, Finland, France and Türkiye demonstrate a range of innovative measures, from financial support for women entrepreneurs to subsidies for social insurance contributions for disadvantaged women with children. Each country's approach reflects its unique socio-economic landscape and policy priorities, highlighting the need for tailored solutions to meet the specific needs of women and families. These aspects highlight that strong institutional capacities are crucial to effectively implement comprehensive, inclusive and gender-responsive social policies, together with a supportive legal framework and universal social security coverage.

As we navigate the complexities of gender equality, family support and social inclusion, the lessons learned from these practices offer valuable insights for policymakers, practitioners, and advocates working towards a more equitable and inclusive society. By sharing best practices, exchanging knowledge and fostering collaboration, we can continue to advance the empowerment of women, strengthen family resilience, and build more inclusive communities. Furthermore, ISSA knowledge in this area (ISSA; 2022e, 2019) and supporting people’s transitions (ISSA, 2024) have contributed to the development of these types of initiatives.

Moving forward, it is essential to build on the successes of these initiatives, address any challenges or gaps identified, and strive for continuous improvement in our efforts to support women and families. By leveraging the lessons learned and best practices highlighted in this analysis, we can collectively work towards a more equitable, supportive and inclusive future for all.

References