Women's Agency and the Agenda-Setting of Danish Family Policy in the 1950s and 1960s

Abstract

In the decades after 1945, Danish governments approved a series of family policy reforms which came to constitute the core elements of what is considered the women-friendly welfare state. In order to understand these developments, this article explores the rise of women's political influence, looking specifically at women's agency outside the parliamentary sphere. This article analyses how a network of influential women combined critical resources such as knowledge of families' concerns and inside information from commissions and boards with agenda-setting strategies promoting family policy reforms, even though women constituted a minority in parliament and had no permanent women's state institution. Hence, modern Danish family policy was not a state project granted to women but to a great extent the result of a network of exceptional women setting a new agenda.

Notes

¹ I am grateful to the Danish historian Hanne Rimmen Nielsen, whose work on the Danish politician Lis Groes and her engagement in family policy in the 1950s has been a huge inspiration to my research. I am also indebted to Dorota Szelewa, Åsa Lundqvist, Bente Rosenbeck, Heidi Vad Jønsson, Klaus Petersen, and the two anonymous reviewers for careful reading of different versions of this article.

² The Association held public meetings and lectures, published books, and held and organized annual summer conferences with participants from all the Nordic countries (Teisen 1979).

³ Mothers Relief was an organization involved in supporting and counselling single mothers and mothers in economic need during pregnancy and child-birth. In 1939, the state took over parts of the financing of this organization.

⁴Kredsen (The Circle), an association with prominent female members of the Social Democratic party, connected the main network with the trade union. When I researched their archives, The Circle's archive had been lost, but it has now been located. If included in the figure, it will strengthen the affiliations between the women's movement and the labour movement.

⁵ ABA: DKP's arkiv: Arkivnr. 921, Danmarks Kommunistiske Partis arkiv: Centralkomiteens øvrige udvalg: Kvindepolitisk udvalg: Kasse 522–523: Protokoller, mødeindkaldelser, korrespondance (Minute books, notice of meetings, correspondence). [ABA: DCP's Archive: Archive number 921, Denmark's Communist Party's Archive: The Central Committee's other committees: Women's political committee: Box 522 and 523].

⁶ Ingrid Larsen, Erna Sørensen, Hanne Budtz, and Ellis Tardini (Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon [Danish women's biographical lexicon]).

⁷ ABA: Fagbevægelsens Kvindesekretariat's arkiv Circular 11/1964. 30 June 1964. [ABA: the Women's Secretariat of the Trade Union's Archive] (author's translation).

⁸ For instance MPs Else-Merete Ross 1960–1973, Nina Andersen 1936–1943 and 1950–1966, Hanne Budtz 1953–1973. Eva Gredal was Minister of Social Affairs 1971–1973 and again from 1975 to 1978, Lis Groes was Minister of Commerce 1953–1957, Bodil Koch was Minister of Ecclesiastical Affairs in 1950 and from 1953 to 1966 (Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon [Danish women's biographical lexicon]).

⁹ Else-Merete Ross was married to the prominent philosopher of law and jurist, Alf Ross; Vera Skalts was married to Axel Skalts, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs; Lis Groes to Ebbe Groes, director of the United Danish Co-operative Societies (FDB); Inga Dahlsgård was married to the influential Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, Erik Ib Schmidt; Grethe Philip was married to economics professor Kjeld Philip, who was also Minister of Commerce 1957–1960, Minister of Finance 1960, and Minister of Economic Affairs 1961–1964 and MP (Dansk Kvindebiografisk Leksikon [Danish women's biographical lexicon]).

¹⁰Rigsarkivet: Danske Kvinders Nationalråd: Materiale vedr. familiepolitiske spørgsmål 1938–1970: nr. 32 og 33 [National Archives: Danish Women's National Council: Material concerning family political issues 1938–1970: number 32 and 33].

¹¹ For instance, Committee on Joint Facilities 1948–1954 (Betænkning 57 [Report 57], 1954), Committee on Part-time Work 1950–1954 (Betænkning 84 [Report 84], 1954), Commission on Pregnancy Hygiene 1950–1955 (Betænkning 96 [Report 96], 1954), Committee on Problems with Child-care Services 1960–1963 (Betænkning 337 [Report 337], 1963), Committee on family policy 1960–1964 (Betænkning 359 [Report 359], 1964), Committee on Financial Support of Mothers with Infants 1967 (Betænkning 464 [Report 464], 1967).

¹² Statsbiblioteket, Kvindehistorisk Samling: Dansk Kvindesamfunds arkiv: Familiepolitisk Udvalg [State and University Library: Women's History Collection: Danish Women's Society's Archive: Committee on family policy]. Minutes of the meeting on 1 March 1961 (author's translation).

¹³ Statsbiblioteket, Kvindehistorisk Samling: Dansk Kvindesamfunds arkiv: familiepolitisk udvalg [State and University Library: Women's History Collection: Danish Women's Society's Archive: Committee on Family Policy]. Minutes from the meeting of 15 August 1957 (author's translation).

¹⁴ Rigsarkivet: Friis, Henning: Sager henlagt efter HF-journal 1924–1996: 52 udvalg: nr. 129 [National Archives: Friis, Henning: Cases shelved according to HF-journal 1924–1996: 52 comittee: number 129] Meeting 23 January 1959 (author's translation).

¹⁵ Statsbiblioteket, Kvindehistorisk Samling: Dansk Kvindesamfunds arkiv: Familiepolitisk Udvalg [State and University Library: Women's History Collection: Danish Women's Society's Archive: Committee on family policy]. Letter 14 April and 16 March 1954 (author's translation).

¹⁶ Statsbiblioteket, Kvindehistorisk Samling: Dansk Kvindesamfunds arkiv, familiepolitisk udvalg [State and University Library: Women's History Collection: Danish Women's Society's Archive: Committee on Family Policy].

¹⁷ Statsbiblioteket, Kvindehistorisk Samling: Dansk Kvindesamfunds arkiv, familiepolitisk udvalg [State and University Library: Women's History Collection: Danish Women's Society's Archive: Committee on Family Policy]. Letter 2 March 1954 (author's translation).

¹⁸ Debates on the situation of single mothers: Folketingstidende 1954/55: 630, 1. behandling: 971 [Parliament's gazette 1954/55: 630, 1^st reading: 971]; Folketingstidende 1954/55: 2519, 1. behandling: 2657 [Parliament's gazette 1954/55: 2519, 1^st reading: 2657]. Debate on children's allowance: Folketingstidende 1966/67, 1. behandling: 3975 [Parliament's gazette 1966/67, 1^st reading: 3975].

¹⁹ Andersen in Folketingstidende 1954/55: 3860 [Parliament's gazette 1954/55: 3860].

²⁰ Folketingstidende 1954/55: 2670 [Parliament's gazette 1954/55: 2670]. Gloerfelt-Tarp is referring to an income ceiling on the mother's income, which determined how large a proportion of the child's maintenance the state would pay if the father did not (author's translation).

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Mai Hostrup Brunse

Mai Hostrup Brunse is a PhD candidate at the Department of History, University of Southern Denmark. Her research interests are in Danish welfare state history in the 1950s to 1970s, especially family and gender equality policies, women's political agency, and recognition struggles in women's organizations and in parliament.