The Unintended Cost of Care: How Family Policies Impact Intimate Partner Violence in the European Union

Abstract Despite being considered the de facto world leader in gender equality, the European Union has a significant problem — its extremely high rates of everyday violence against women (EVAW). Contrary to conventional wisdom about development and gender equality, recent survey research shows the most industrialized countries in Europe also report a higher prevalence of EVAW. In this article, I argue that family policies — particularly those associated with the universal breadwinning model and increased women’s labor market participation — are related to intimate partner violence. Utilizing a nationally representative and comparable dataset on EVAW in the European Union, I find state expenditure on in-kind childcare is associated with a higher likelihood of a woman experiencing intimate partner violence, while more generous parental leave schemes have the opposite relationship. This underscores that while family policies are often designed to rectify gender disparities in formal and caring work, they may also yield unintended yet profoundly negative consequences.