The Aftermath of Austerity: Spanish Labour Reforms from an Intersectional Gender Perspective

Southern European governments changed their labour laws as part of their austerity measures in response to the financial crisis, encouraged by the EU to deregulate their labour markets. The Spanish government rushed through significant reforms with the motivation that they were necessary emergency measures to address the financial crisis. The highly unpopular reforms weakened Spanish workers’ rights by reducing protections for employees, which has gendered effects given women’s higher care burden and less cemented role in the Spanish labour market. In this paper, I examine how Spanish labour unions, employer associations, women’s policy agencies, members of parliament and subsequent governments have engaged with the labour reforms following their adoption. Through an analysis of interviews, reports, proposed legal amendments and related law proposals, I study how their understanding of gender, intersectionality, inequality and economic policy inform their conceptualisations of and reactions to the reforms. I demonstrate that these actors share a commitment to female employment, but that they differ significantly as to whether they consider that the reforms negatively impact women. This work contributes to nuancing our understanding of how political actors engage with gender equality in economic policy making.