Embedded Files
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior knowledge and learning objectives
Helpful prior learning:
Section 1.1.1 The economy and you, which explains what an economy is and how it is relevant to students’ lives
Section 1.1.2 The embedded economy, which explains the relationship between the economy and society and Earth’s systems
Section 1.3.6 Households, markets, state and commons, which explains four provisioning institutions in the economy and their interconnection
Section 1.3.7 Care in the economy, which explains the importance of care in the economy, the types of care, and why care is undervalued
Section 2.1.1 The household as a system, which describes households, the basic relationships of household members, and the connection between the household and the rest of the economy.
Section 2.2.1 Households and markets, which explains the relationships between households and markets
Section 2.2.2 Households and the commons, which explains the relationships between households and the commons
Section 2.2.3 Households and the state, which explains the relationships between households and the state
Section S.1 What are systems?, which explains what a system is, the importance of systems boundaries, the difference between open and closed systems and the importance of systems thinking
Section S.2 Systems thinking patterns, which outlines the core components of systems thinking: distinctions (thing/other), systems (part/whole), relationships (action/reaction), and perspectives (point/view)
Learning objectives:
use the care diamond to explain the concept of a resilient care economy
explain the factors that determine the balance of care between the four provisioning institutions
discuss some consequences of unbalanced care among provisioning institutions in an economy
Ecosystems are complex networks of interactions between organisms and their environment. Healthy ecosystems are biodiverse, with various organisms in different roles and relationships. In Section 1.2.5, you may have learned about these relationships, including feeding relationships in food webs (Figure 1).
Notice that some organisms have multiple food sources, making them more resilient if one source disappears. (Note: not all organisms and their food sources in this ecosystem are listed).
Like ecosystems, our economies need diversity and redundancy to meet human needs, even during economic, social or ecological disruptions. This is especially true for essential needs like care.
Figure 4. A food web from Yellowstone National Park
How can the care diamond help us understand economic resilience?
How can the care diamond help us understand economic resilience?
Previous sections explored relationships between households and other provisioning institutions: markets, commons, and the state. These relationships can be complementary, supporting each other, or redundant, providing similar goods and services.
Care is an area where these four provisioning institutions can and should overlap. People in their households can provide childcare, markets can offer paid childcare services, the state can provide public childcare, and communities can offer childcare through commoning. In a healthy economy, overlapping care in these provisioning institutions creates redundancies that ensure that care needs are met even if one institution fails.
The care diamond (Figure 2) visualises how care is shared among these institutions. A balanced care mix among households, markets, the commons and the state enhances society's resilience.
Figure 2. The care diamond can help us visualise the care mix, or how care is shared among the different provisioning institutions.
What factors determine the balance of care?
What factors determine the balance of care?
Several interrelated factors (Figure 3) influence how care work is shared among provisioning institutions in a society, including:
social norms: In societies where the social norm is for women to do care and domestic work, households will provide proportionally more care. However, societies with more gender-equal care norms may have more market- and state-provided care. Why might that be?
incomes: Areas with high average incomes may have more households paying for care services, reducing care work provided in the household. Higher tax revenues may enable states to provide more care as well, though tax revenue alone is not the only factor. In areas with lower average incomes, there is more unpaid household care or care commoning.
state policies: Countries with strong social welfare programs offer low-cost or free childcare, public healthcare, and eldercare support. Strong care regulations help ensure quality care. In contrast, limited state services and weak laws result in more care by households, commons, and unregulated markets, often leading to poor quality care.
community structures: Some communities share care work among relatives and neighbours through systems of reciprocity. This is common in indigenous communities and rural areas with limited state or market care. In urban and individualistic societies, the nuclear family is more common. They may rely more on market-based or state care due to weaker community ties and support networks.
Figure 3. Factors affecting the care mix, or how care is shared among provisioning institutions in a society
What are some consequences of unbalanced care provisioning in the economy?
What are some consequences of unbalanced care provisioning in the economy?
How and where care is provided in an economy changes constantly in response to social norms, incomes, state policies and community structures.
Some economists assume that changes in care in societies move in a linear direction as incomes rise, from care being offered mainly by households/commons to more care offered by markets/state. However, economies are influenced by more than incomes and money. Political decisions, for example, can result in cuts to state funding for care, known as austerity policies, that put more burden on households, as has been the case in the UK in recent years. Large changes in who provides care in an economy can result in too much dependence on one provisioning institution, which undermines the resilience of the entire economy. Consequences of unbalanced care in the economy are outlined in the dynamic slides below.
Activity 2.2.4
Activity 2.2.4
Concept: Systems
Skills: Thinking skills (critical thinking, transfer)
Time: 30 minutes
Type: Individual, pairs, or group
Option 1: The care diamond in your community
Consider / discuss the following questions to think about care work in your community:
What are the social norms about who does care and domestic work in your community?
What is the relative income level in your community? Is it considered a high, medium, or low-income community relative to others in your country, region or city?
How much of a role does the state play in providing care? Is child care and elder care mainly provided by the state, or other provisioning institutions? Is there universal health care funded by the state? How strong are the laws related to care and gender equity in your country or region?
How active are groups of commoners in your community or region? What kinds of care do they provide?
Based on your impressions, and talking with your teacher or other adults in your school or life, how might you sketch the care diamond for your community?
Option 2: Discussion
The following quote comes from Wages Against Housework by Silvia Federici (1975).
As for the proposal of socialisation and collectivisation of housework, a couple of examples will be sufficient to draw a line between these alternatives and our perspective. It is one thing to set up a day care centre the way we want it, and demand that the State pay for it. It is quite another thing to deliver our children to the State and ask the State to control them, discipline them, teach them to honour the American flag not for five hours, but for fifteen or twenty-four hours. It is one thing to organise communally the way we want to eat (by ourselves, in groups, etc.) and then ask the State to pay for it, and it is the opposite thing to ask the State to organise our meals. In one case we regain some control over our lives, in the other we extend the State's control over us.
What point do you think Federici is making in this passage?
What does it have to do with the care diamond?
Do you agree with her point? Why or why not?
Ideas for longer activities and projects are listed in Subtopic 2.5 Taking Action
Checking for understanding
Checking for understanding
Further exploration
Further exploration
How to fix the UK’s care crisis | openDemocracy - a 13 minute video about the care crisis of the UK, but applicable to all countries where the economy relies too much on markets for care and state care has been cut, while the cost of living requires multiple household members to work full time to meet their needs. Difficulty level: easy
Wages Against Housework (1975) - a powerful and controversial manifesto by feminist economist Silvia Federici advocating that household care and domestic work should be paid. Note: the text has some explicit language. Difficulty level: medium
How to form a babysitting coop - An overview of how to set up a group to share childcare responsibilities without exchange of money. Caring for children using commoning can help shift some care from markets, benefiting families financially and helping to build more resilient households and communities. Difficulty level: easy
Sources
Sources
Dowling, E. (2021). The Care Crisis: What Caused It and How Can We End it? London: Verso Books.
Federici, S., & Power of Women Collective. (1975). Wages against housework (1st ed.). Power of Women Collective ; Falling Wall Press. Online source: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/postgraduate/masters/modules/femlit/04-federici.pdf
Razavi, Shahra (2007). “The Political and Social Economy of Care in a Development Context”. Gender and Development Programme Paper Number 3. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development. https://cdn.unrisd.org/assets/library/papers/pdf-files/razavi-paper.pdf
Tronto, J. C. (2013). Caring democracy: Markets, equality, and justice. New York University Press.
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Terminology (in order of appearance)
Link to Quizlet interactive flashcards and terminology games for Section 2.2.4 Care diamond
ecosystem: the interaction of groups of organisms with each other and their physical environment
organism: a living thing, such as an animal, a plant, a bacterium, or fungus
biodiverse: when there is a wide variety of living organisms
food web: a complex set of feeding relationships between organisms, with multiple connections between them; shows the transfer and transformation of energy and matter through living organisms in an ecosystem
resilient: able to recover after a disturbance
economy: all the human-made systems that transfer and transform energy and matter to meet human needs and wants
redundant: something that is repetitive, not necessary under normal circumstances, but useful in unusual circumstances
care: the act of providing what is necessary for the health, welfare, upkeep, and protection of someone or something
household: a system where people living together care for each other and do domestic work, often termed the 'core economy'
provisioning institution: a group of people and their relationships as they try to meet human needs and wants
market: a system where people buy and sell goods and services for a price.
commons: a system where people self-organise to co-produce and manage shared resources.
state: a system that provides essential public services, and also governs and regulates other economic institutions
complementary: when thens go together or work well together
commoning: when a group of people self-organise to manage shared resources
care diamond: a graphic representation of how care is shared among households, markets, commons and state
care mix: the particular care distribution in a society among households, markets, commons and state
norm: a social rule for accepted and expected behaviour, can be stated or unstated
income: money received from work or investments
tax: payment from individuals or organisations to the government, used to provide public infrastructure and services
revenue: the money earned from selling a product
social welfare: state programs supporting people to meet their basic needs, including supplemental income, food, housing, health care and other services
regulation: a rule that guides individual or group behaviour and enforced by an authority
reciprocity: exchanging things and favours with others for mutual benefit
indigenous community: the original settlers of an area (pre-invasion/colonialism) who have retained their culture apart from colonisers
linear: in a straight line
austerity policy: state economic policies involving spending/investment cuts and higher taxes
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