Caretaking and the Contradictions of Contemporary Policy
Abstract
This symposium article critiques the emerging literature on caretaking, a literature that concentrates on the need to create policies that would facilitate women's carework, from two distinct perspectives. The first part of the article compares the emphasis on caretaking with the recent proposals from the right that promote marriage as an adjunct to the welfare system. The second part of the article critiques the carework proposals that have arisen principally among feminist legal scholars because it is premised on an inaccurate perception of women's labor force attachment and reifies women's roles as mothers. We also critique the recent interest in French social welfare policies, and ultimately we suggest additional policies, such as restructuring school days, as a superior alternative to finding balance between the demands of labor market work and carework.