Novara FM: We Were Promised Robot Butlers
Why does domestic drudgery persist? Nick Srnicek and Helen Hester take up the fight for free time.
Tag: care work
Opinion: Does Jeremy Hunt Hate Children?
Edie Miller
The chancellor’s recent budget announcement of 30 hours of free childcare for one and two-year-olds is too little, too late.
Feature: We’re All Working, All the Time
Polly Smythe
Long before the pandemic, remote working had created the expectation that workers be “always on”. It’s time we fought for our right to switch off, writes Polly Smythe.
Novara FM: Capital, Care and Crisis
Emma Dowling joins James Butler to discuss care in the shadow of capital.
Novara FM: ‘Tired From the Heart’: Voices From the Care Sector
Care work faces a constant struggle for recognition, leaving some workers 'tired from the heart'. What would it mean to advance an alternative vision of the sector? Sophie K Rosa, Craig Gent and James Butler find out.
Opinion: Why Scrapping Hostile Environment Policies Would Benefit Kids, Parents and Childcare Workers
Miranda Hall and Veronica Deutsch
This year many families have scrambled for childcare solutions - often in the form of informal childcare. Against a renewed push for regularisation from some parts of the sector, Miranda Hall and Veronica Deutsch argue our sights ought to be set on the anti-migrant policies which force people to work invisibly.
Analysis: Disabled People and Care Workers Must Build Common Cause in the Fight for Better Conditions
Jamie Hale
Organising carers against disabled people would do nothing to leverage power against the only people who can affect the real terms and conditions of the industry, writes Jamie Hale. The left must instead work to build solidarity between care workers and the disabled people who rely on them to ensure that neither is exploited.
The Soapbox: All Women Are Workers
Eleanor Penny brings you “The Soapbox” We usually think that work means employment in the formal economy. But domestic labour – done mostly by women, and mostly for free – is the most fundamental kind of work there is.
Long Read: Labouring Through Birth and Death
Jenny Nelson
Birth and death both demand complex, intensive care work; of the sort dismissed by capitalism and silenced by societal taboos. In this week's Long Read, Jenny Nelson explores the labour of the beginning and end of life.
4 Problems Affecting Home Care Sector Workers
an Anonymous Care Worker
There has never been a more urgent time to address the crisis of care work in the UK. Exhausted and despairing at the state of the social care sector, the author recently quit their job as a support worker/carer for a home care company.
5 Crises Facing the UK’s Care Homes
an Anonymous Care Worker
Care is in crisis - but what exactly is going on in the UK’s care system, and how might we begin planning ways to create a better future? Here, a care worker working with elderly people reflects on how the crisis is playing out in residential care homes.
7 Reasons the Midwives’ Strike Affects Us All
Lady Stardust
Midwives have taken the first two strikes in the Royal College of Midwives' history in quick succession, and are now undertaking industrial action. In this article an NHS student midwife argues that beyond the battle for pay and the NHS, the midwives' struggle is emblematic of the struggle against capitalism.
8 Reasons You Need to Care About the Caring Economy
Polly Trenow
When it comes to the care economy, women are hardly mentioned despite doing the vast majority of the work. With women's unemployment showing few signs of recovery and what little welfare provision existed being hollowed out, Polly Trenow from the Women's Budget Group argues priority needs to be given to the caring economy and the social infrastructure required to support carers.