Care Work: What it is and why it matters Nancy Folbre Department of Economics University of Massachusetts Amherst See “Care Talk” blog at

1.What is care work? 2.Who are care workers? 3.What is distinctive about care work? Three Questions

Care Work Defined Direct care work involves provision of services to another person in a face-to-face or hands-on or first-name relationship that implies some emotional connection and concern for that person’s well being. Direct care work can be paid or unpaid, market or non-market, male or female. Recipients often dependents—but sometimes also healthy adults. Intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation: not a dichotomy, but a continuum.

Current Care Labor Force In Paid Employment: can be defined by industry or occupation or intersection of Both (England et al, 2002). e.g. health care is an industry; nursing is an occupation. About 20% of U.S. paid labor force works in a caregiving occupation (Duffy, 2002). Care workers are predominantly female (70-85% depending on definition). Skill, education, unionization vary: doctors, nurses, teachers near the top in terms of education and income; child care, home care, and elder care workers near the bottom. Black, Hispanic and immigrant women heavily represented near the bottom.

In Unpaid Employment: The American Time Use Survey measures direct care activities for household and non-household children and adults. It also measures supervisory care for children ages 12 and under by asking if children were “in your care.” Many household activities such as meal preparation are embedded in a caregiving context. Many surveys measure care “received” by disabled or elderly results, often in terms of assistance with Activities of Daily Living (ADLs) In labor force studies, main reason given for women who are not employed or seeking employment is responsibilities for family care; number of adult women not in full-time employment often offered as measure of unpaid care workforce (!).

What’s Distinctive About Care? limited consumer sovereignty (information problems, agency problems, monitoring problems) coordination problems and externalities key role of social norms But key issue is emotional connection and person-specific interaction This applies both supply of labor (workers) and purchase of services (“consumers”)

Primarily seeking pecuniary reward Reciprocity or mutual obligation Motivated primarily by affection and concern Certain of own impersonal needs conventional market transactions some informal trade and barter some charity, volunteer work e.g. food bank Uncertain of own needs (info problems) some market transactions in health and education some informal trade, barter some paid care of dependents Needs personal connection (emo/warm glow) some market transactions in health and education friendships and intimate relationships among adults paid and unpaid care of dependents Worker Motivation Consumers