Blog

Discretion or Standardization? How States Assess Eligibility for Home Care 

Millions of elderly people and people with disabilities depend on Medicaid-funded home care services. But there is a lot of variation in how states evaluate home care eligibility. Standardized assessments leave room for discretion and interpretation of what constitutes disability – which can be both a tool for personalized care and an obstacle for developing quality benchmarks.

Extraction, Nourishment, and the Labor of Healing in Bolivia

20 January 2025

Indigenous traditional healers in Bolivia expressed optimism when Evo Morales expanded opportunities for them to work in the formal health care system. Yet some also grew frustrated when they received no salary and minimal material support in public institutional settings.

Beyond Deficit: Masculinity and Young Men’s Care Work

5 January 2025

The world is changing, leading to a re-examination of manhood. The traditional idea of a strong, silent man who refrains from showing emotion has received increased attention as we recognise the harmful effect of these behaviours. Consequently, there is a growing call to promote caring expressions of masculinity.

Marginal children: child support guidelines and the (de)value of care

1 December 2024

Traditional child support models underestimate the cost of raising children by ignoring unpaid care work and shared living expenses. A proposed “Dignified Living Model” centers care and interdependence, ensuring support reflects the well-being of both children and parents, based on income and custody arrangements.

Feminist Abortion Accompaniment: An Emerging Model of Care in the U.S.

18 November 2024

The Latin American model of feminist abortion accompaniment has emerged in the U.S. as a grassroots response to restrictive abortion laws and barriers to access. Networks such as Mexico’s Las Libres provide free abortion pills and virtual support powered by transnational, intergenerational feminist solidarity

Fronteriza Care Work Epistemology and Environmental Justice Organizing in Tijuana-San Diego

18 November 2024

Environmental justice activists at the border strategically use their lived experiences as fronterizas and care workers to both identify issues in their community as well as to link their localized realities to global political economic processes

Telemedicine and the Delegation of In-Person Care

3 November 2024

Telemedicine’s virtual connection requires the in-person efforts of both paid and unpaid caregivers to function. Despite their essential role, these lower status in situ caregivers get left out of the picture. Failing to support in situ caregivers both re-entrenches hierarchies within caregiving while undermining the practical and ethical success of telemedicine itself.

Time Poverty and Climate Shocks: How Married Women Bear the Brunt

21 October 2024

As climate events like floods, droughts, and heatwaves intensify, their effects ripple beyond economic poverty and damage to physical assets. Emerging research sheds light on how these environmental crises impact women’s well-being. A crucial yet overlooked aspect is women’s time use, which often reflects social norms. My research dives into this vital area and reveals how climate shocks are driving married women deeper into time poverty in India.

Why Valuing Care Work is Essential for a Fairer Economy

21 October 2024

Unpaid care work is the hidden backbone of every economy. It sustains families, facilitates paid employment, and enhances human well-being, yet remains largely unrecognized in official economic statistics. In Sri Lanka, this work is gaining attention, championed by the new Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya, who emphasized its importance in her inaugural parliamentary address. 

Women’s Time Use between Paid and Unpaid Work in India

20 October 2024

Women carry out a large share of the total unpaid work which leaves them very less time to engage in paid employment in India. This work tries to understand if there is a reduction in unpaid work when women engage in paid employment. 

Migrant Men in Care: Navigating Masculinity and Global Inequities

20 October 2024

The participation of migrant men in care work challenges traditional gender norms, prompting a redefinition of masculinity as they balance both physical and emotional caregiving. This shift calls for a more inclusive understanding of care, while acknowledging the structural inequalities that continue to shape the global care economy.

Cover image by Bloque Feminista Barranquilla. Edited by Natalia Hernandez Fajardo

The body-territory as politics of care. Exploring connections between popular struggles and diverse ontologies

This blog post aims to explore the connections between the reproductive commons and the processes of popular struggle that women, defending bodies and territories, undertake as practices, formulas and strategies for the care of life, based on relational ontologies.