Subjecting the 'black box' of childcare markets to closer scrutiny, this book brings to light complex political, social and economic work of making childcare markets.
As many governments now rely on the market to meet childcare demand, this book subjects the 'black box' of childcare markets to closer scrutiny.
Drawing from an in-depth study of New Zealand, Gallagher examines key issues around marketized childcare, including the high costs for parents, the varying quality for children and poor remuneration for those who work in the sector.
Table of Contents:
1. Childcare as a Market for Collective Concern
2. Childcare Markets as an Object of Study
3. State-Led Marketization: The Creation of the New Zealand Childcare Market
4. Private Providers, Childcare Labour and the Problem of Finance
5. The Childcare Property Investment Market
6. Childcare Management Software and Data Infrastructures in the Market
7. Conclusion
8. Epilogue: Market Responses to COVID-19
About the Author :
Aisling Gallagher is Senior Lecturer in Geography at Massey University, New Zealand. Her research focuses broadly on the geographies of care, welfare and social reproduction in neoliberal contexts, with a special interest in the marketisation of childcare.
Review :
“Childcare Provision in Neoliberal Times is an important book because it does not take current norms of neoliberal childcare markets for granted but investigates their formation. As a result, it shows how states play a fundamental role in shaping childcare markets.” Contemporary Sociology
