Vulnerabilities in Paid Care Work: Transnational Experiences, Insights and Voices

The need for paid care workers to provide professional, good quality care for those needing daily support continues to grow throughout the world. This book explores the recent experiences of diverse paid care workers in four very different national contexts – Finland, Canada, South Africa and England – to learn from their experiences during COVID-19 and its aftermath. Drawing on care workers’ own perspectives, this book shows how recruitment and retention of paid care workers remains challenging due to the pandemic and demographic changes, their precarious labour market position, low pay and the difficulties of delivering care.

Table of Contents:
1. Care and Vulnerabilities: Ideas, Concepts, Methods – Marjut Jyrkinen, Sophie Bowlby, Mandisa Malinga and Ryan Hron 2. Valuing Caring: Domiciliary Care Work in England’s ‘Care Crisis’ During and Post COVID-19 - Caitlin Bawn, Sophie Bowlby, Linda McKie and Dilesh Shah 3. Gender, Migration and Their Intersections: Domestic Workers’ Stories of Care in South Africa – Carmine Rustin, Floretta Boonzaier and Mandisa Malinga 4. Understanding the Long-Term Retention of Personal Support Workers in Canadian Home and Long-Term Care – Kathy Sanderson and Ryan Hron 5. Vulnerabilities in Care Work: Perspectives of Migrant and LGBT Care Workers in Finland – Tytti Suominen, Jukka Lehtonen, Marjut Jyrkinen and Liina Lohikoski 6. Reconceptualising Precarity and Agency: New Ways Forward – Kathy Sanderson, Caitlin Bawn, Floretta Boonzaier and Jukka Lehtonen

About the Author :
Sophie Bowlby is Honorary Visiting Research Fellow in the Department of Geography and Environmental Science at the University of Reading. Her research interests are in geographies of informal and formal care work and friendship. Marjut Jyrkinen is Professor of Working Life Equality and Gender Studies at the University of Helsinki. Her research interests relate to gender, age, care and careers in management and organisations. Mandisa Malinga is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Cape Town. Her research interests include gender, precarious work and its impact on masculinities and fatherhood and care work. Kathy Sanderson is Associate Professor of Human Resources in the Faculty of Business Administration at Lakehead University. Her research focuses on reducing pain in the workplace.

Review :
“Cross-national comparisons of care work are intelligently discussed in this readable book. Common themes abound around vulnerability, invisibility and policy makers' short-lived interest.” Jill Manthorpe CBE, The Policy Institute, King's College London “This book offers a profound and insightful exploration of the experiences of care workers during and after the COVID-19 pandemic, shedding light on the critical yet undervalued role these workers play in societies. The authors provide compelling analyses of how gender, sexuality, race/ethnicity and class shape the experiences of care workers in different cultural and socioeconomic contexts. The book is an essential read for anyone interested in understanding the complexities of care work and care crisis across the globe.” Hanna Ylöstalo, Tampere University