The results in this paper confirm that welfare state development has to be looked at outside the gender and social perspective and elucidate their relationship. The definition of social care as a state-oriented versus family-oriented activity, which crosses the boundary of paid and unpaid work, proved to be an adequate area to define the complex interaction of
both forms of inequality in a society. The working-situation of the predominantly female carers and the access of care receivers to social care are determined by existing norms and their realisation. Germany and Sweden, which represent two prototypical welfare states, were chosen as an empirical basis for clarifying this complex interaction.
On the normative level, clear differences can be seen between the two countries. While in Sweden women and men have to participate in the labour market, in Germany women still have the freedom of choice between family work and labour market participation. Correspondingly in Germany, the family is viewed as the central instance in the provision of social care for children and the elderly, whereas in Sweden social care is mainly seen as a societal obligation and access to social care is defined universally as a citizen's right. The Long-Term Care Insurance in Germany, introduced in the 90s, guarantees only basic benefits and still leaves the care receivers and their families with the main responsibility for social
care.
In their realisation, norms of gender relations and the responsibility for the provision of social care produce their own interaction between gender and social inequality in both countries. The welfare state as an employer, the access to social care and the different process of the professionalisation of care occupations embedded in the distinct welfare state context
are revealed as important areas in this analysis.