2.2 Household relationships with other provisioning institutions

Households are the most important economic institution. People in their households  provide the direct and indirect care that human beings need to survive and thrive. But households do not operate alone. They are deeply embedded in ecological and other social systems (Figure 1).

Subtopic 2.2 explores the interdependence of households with markets, the commons, and the state. These other provisioning institutions can and should also provide care in our societies. This diversity and redundancy in care work builds more resilient societies, but it’s important to find the right balance of care provision between them. It’s also important to consider how we meet our needs in our households, because our choices have huge impacts on the rest of the living world.