Home and Work, Public and Private

In my family I've seen carework through the actions taken by my parents, aunts and uncles in response to my aging grandmothers. My paternal grandmother has early signs of Alzheimers, and my aunt lives with her and cares for her constantly, in addition to working a full-time job. On my maternal side, my grandmother spends alternate parts of the year with each of her three daughters, including my mother. In both cases, the caring individuals put forth their own money, time, love and effort into making my grandmothers as comfortable as possible. I can only imagine that if the numbers were calculated as they were in the documentary The Love Economy, the proportional wages would be similarly substantial.

In relating that private homelife care to the public sector, I cannot recall any of my family members being able to bring their caretaking situation to a boss at work and come to a solution that works for both the employer and employee, as was shown in Juggling Work and Care. In my opinion, feeling obliged to care for a family member likely comes across as an excuse in the workplace to slack off. This is definitely an American mentality, for the formerly mentioned series takes place in the UK and all parties interviewed said that their employers were willing to work with employees who needed more work flexibility.

American society desperately needs to re-evaluate how women, and men, in the workplace are treated when it comes to balancing their private lives. With more women working, and continuing to work after starting families, men and women are sharing more responsibilities in the home, corresponding to the sharing outside of it. What was previously considered "women's work" has been partially transferred to men, but not entirely. Private work, although not monetarily valued, must exist to balance the public work done by men and women. Without maintaining a home life, the work life will absolutely suffer.

If carers, whether for children, ill people, or the elderly, are not supported in the workplace then there is likely no way for them to continue supporting their families fiscally. Carers in America are forced to either continue working, in a then resentful environment, and give up their caring roles, or hire an outsider to take them on, or the carer can give up their job and somehow figure out how to cover expenses.