Policing reproductive labour in the welfare state: the case of the dutch childcare-benefit scandal

Abstract This paper explores how the welfare state disciplines its population by shaping the conditions under which women participate in paid and unpaid labour, thereby influencing their economic dependence and social positioning. Drawing on a literature review and case-study analysis, we identify a framework that highlights the disciplining elements of welfare state practices and provisions, particularly in relation to reproductive labour, women, and migrant women, through a theoretical analysis of historical and contemporary welfare laws, policies and interventions. Our analysis identifies a three-step process through which the welfare state exercises control. First, the conditionality of welfare support subjects citizens to strict eligibility criteria, reinforcing exclusion and inequality. Second, welfare policing enables the surveillance and investigation of beneficiaries, fostering a system of distrust and suspicion. Third, punitivity manifests in penal measures imposed on those deemed non-compliant, resulting in financial sanctions and social harm. Through a case-study of the Dutch childcare benefits scandal, this paper demonstrates how this three-step process operates in practice. Thousands of families faced severe repercussions as a result of welfare state governance, illustrating how welfare policies commonly assumed to provide protection can instead function as instruments of coercion and social control.