Care work

Care work
Wood engraving of a woman holding a child while another woman touches it tenderly
Care work is done in the service of others.
Occupation
Activity sectors
Description
Fields of
employment
Domestic work

Care work includes all tasks directly involving the care of others. The majority of care work is provided without any expectation of immediate pecuniary reward. Instead, it is undertaken out of affection, social norms or a sense of responsibility for others.[1] It can also be a form of paid employment.[1]

It refers to occupations that provide services to help people develop their capabilities, or the ability to pursue aspects of their lives that they value. Examples include child care, all levels of teaching (from preschool through university professorship), and health care (nurses, doctors, physical therapists, and psychologists).[2] Care work also includes unpaid domestic work that is often disproportionately performed by women.[3]

Although it is frequently focused on providing for dependents such as children, the sick, and the elderly,[3] care work also refers to work done in the immediate service of others (regardless of dependency) and can extend to "animals and things".[4] The study of care work, linked to the fields of feminist economics and feminist legal theory, is associated with scholars who include Marilyn Waring, Nancy Folbre, Martha Albertson Fineman, Paula England, Maria Floro, Diane Elson, Caren Grown, and Virginia Held.

  1. ^ a b Humphries, Jane (2024). "Careworn: The Economic History of Caring Labor". The Journal of Economic History. 84 (2): 319–351. doi:10.1017/S0022050724000147. ISSN 0022-0507.
  2. ^ England, Paula (2005). "Emerging theories of care work". Annual Review of Sociology. 31: 381–399. doi:10.1146/annurev.soc.31.041304.122317.
  3. ^ a b Human Development Report 1999 (PDF). United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). 1999. p. 77.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference OHara was invoked but never defined (see the help page).