Hemnära marknadstjänster - kvinnornas befriare?

Abstract

In Sweden — as in other European countries - the question of tax deduction of domestic services is being discussed. The argument is that the high taxes in Sweden hinder the growth of a märket for domestic services. By introducing tax deductions prices would be lowered and the demand for such services would increase. This would in turn enhance employment and transform "black märket work" into regular employment. It would also further gender equality since women who could buy domestic services would spend less time performing household work and more on paid work or a career. However, in all countries domestic services are usually performed outside the regular terms of employment, i.e. neither taxes nor social security is paid. This is true whether taxes are high as for example in Germany or low as in the U.S. But the people doing this kind of work probably differ between countries. In Germany it is common that "housewives" do domestic work for pay in other peoples' homes and in the U.S. such work is often done by unregistered immigrants. The number of unregistered immigrants performing domestic work is probably growing in European countries. The large märket for domestic services in Germany can not be seen as a sign of a high degree of gender equality, but rather the reverse. Since there have been limited employment opportunities for women on the regular labour märket, domestic work outside the regular labour märket has provided an alternative. In the U.S. a märket for domestic services is presumably a result of big income differences in general. Women in high-income households can employ a person in their home at a very low wage. But in the very top positions in the private sector there are hardly any women in the U.S. as in Sweden. It is possible however, that there is a greater proportion of women managers in the private sector on lower levels in the U.S. than in Sweden. The reason is not necessarily that there are more female managers in general in the U.S. than in Sweden, but rather that the work women do - for example in hospitals - in the U.S. is done in the private sector and in Sweden in the public sector. Tax deductions have been introduced in several European countries. However, besides France, this has had very little effect on employment and black märket labour. In France subsidies have transformed black märket jobs into regular employment, which means that these employees have become part of the social security system. But it also means that high-income groups are subsidised and the costs have been high for the taxpayers. The subsidies were lowered in 1998. In Sweden the black märket for domestic services is probably quite small compared to many other countries, but it is growing. One current proposal is tax deduction of domestic services performed in the home, another is also tax deductions of services provided outside the home such as restaurants, dry cleaners, etc. This second proposal would mean that not only people with high incomes, but also those with quite low incomes could benefit, since most people for example at least some times eat in a restaurant. However, it is debatable whether this is the best way to transform black märket jobs into regular employment, to further employment or gender equality.