Women, Work and the Care Economy (Routledge Studies in Gender and Economics)

Women, Work and the Care Economy explores the critical intersection between gender, labor, and caregiving. The book is divided into four sections, encompassing a diverse range of topics. The theoretical section highlights the challenges of integrating intersectionality into feminist economics, emphasizing the sustainability of life as a transformative framework and linking critical feminist economics with common economic practices. Methodologies include qualitative reviews and multiscale analyses of care systems across Europe, Latin America, and the Global South.

The second section focuses on gender inequality and the care economy. It examines the impact of unpaid domestic work on labor market participation in OECD countries, the feminization of caregiving for people with disabilities in Mexico, and spatial disparities in access to care services. Using mixed methods like time-use surveys and spatial analyses, the book underscores systemic inequities.

The third section examines work and entrepreneurship, exploring feminist identity's influence on entrepreneurial intentions, the pandemic’s effects on the unpaid labor division in the U.S., and caregiving’s impact on academic careers in Uruguay. Data collection methods include surveys, econometric models, and gender-disaggregated analysis.

The final section addresses public policies and proposals. It analyzes shared caregiving responsibilities in Mexico’s labor market, the economic effects of caregiving on female-headed households during COVID-19, and the role of agency in reducing gender disparities globally. By highlighting the importance of care work, the central role of women in the economy, and the need for inclusive public policies, the book seeks to sensitize the wider public to persistent inequalities and how these can be challenged and transformed.

An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched (KU). KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high quality books Open Access for the public good. The Open Access ISBN for this book is 9781003640189. More information about the initiative and links to the Open Access version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org.

Reyna Elizabeth Rodríguez Pérez is a Professor–Researcher at the Faculty of Economics, Universidad Autónoma de Coahuila, Saltillo, México.

David Castro Lugo is Professor of Economics at the Center for Socioeconomic Research at the Universidad Autonoma de Coahuila, Mexico.