Caring on the Clock: The Complexities and Contradictions of Paid Care Work

A nurse inserts an I.V. A personal care attendant helps a quadriplegic bathe and get dressed. A nanny reads a bedtime story to soothe a child to sleep. Every day, workers like these provide critical support to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Caring on the Clock provides a wealth of insight into these workers, who take care of our most fundamental needs, often at risk to their own economic and physical well-being. 


Caring on the Clock is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research on a wide range of paid care occupations, and to place the various fields within a comprehensive and comparative framework across occupational boundaries. The book includes twenty-two original essays by leading researchers across a range of disciplines—including sociology, psychology, social work, and public health. They examine the history of the paid care sector in America, reveal why paid-care work can be both personally fulfilling but also make workers vulnerable to burnout, emotional fatigue, physical injuries, and wage exploitation. Finally, the editors outline many innovative ideas for reform, including top-down and grassroots efforts to improve recognition, remuneration, and mobility for care workers. 



As America faces a series of challenges to providing care for its citizens, including the many aging baby boomers, this volume offers a wealth of information and insight for policymakers, scholars, advocates, and the general public.

MIGNON DUFFY is an associate professor of sociology and the associate director of the Center for Women and Work at the University of Massachusetts Lowell and the author of Making Care Count: A Century of Gender, Race, and Paid Care Work (Rutgers University Press). 
 

AMY ARMENIA is an associate professor of sociology at Rollins College, and has published research in Work and Occupations, the Journal of Family Issues, and Social Science Research.

 

CLARE L. STACEY is associate professor of sociology at Kent State University and author of The Caring Self: The Work Experiences of Home Care Aides.