Caregiving Work

Abstract

Changing a diaper, cooking a meal, comforting a friend. Should we think of these activities as work? What, if anything, is wrong with how they are currently organized? What would be better? This chapter addresses these questions in the context of contemporary Western capitalist economies. Drawing on feminist scholarship, the author argues that the status quo is both unjust and inimical to human flourishing. It is unjust because caregivers are systematically disadvantaged and the work is not fairly distributed within and between households. It is inimical to flourishing because of the isolated and socially coercive conditions in which caregiving often takes place, as well as its relentlessly repetitive nature. It is suggested that caregiving work is normatively distinctive, since it is often unpaid, naturalized, and motivated by care for others. The chapter ends by considering ways in which caregiving work could be transformed to address these concerns, or otherwise reduced or redistributed.