Divisions of Care Labour: Care for Older People and Migrant Workers in England

Abstract

Cross-national analyses of care for older people have sought to identify different models of care according to the role of the state in the public provision of paid or ‘formal’ care services and benefits, and the role of the family in the provision of unpaid or ‘informal’ care (Anttonen and Sipilä, 1996; Carrera et al., 2013; Timonen, 2005). The role of the market in the provision of care for older people is likewise increasingly evident across European countries (Brennan et al., 2012; Pavolini and Ranci, 2008). The ‘welfare mix’ of care for older people, regarding the roles of the state, market, voluntary sector and family has implications both for those receiving care and those providing care (Daly and Lewis, 2000). Variation in the welfare mix, not only across countries but within systems of care for older people in different national contexts, have implications for who provides care and the conditions under which care is provided within that system. Care for older people depends both on a paid workforce and on unpaid carers and volunteers — paid and unpaid work which is highly gendered. The provision of care is labour intensive: within paid care services, labour costs are estimated to make up half the costs of home care provision and between half and two thirds of the costs of residential care (Beesley, 2006). The quality of care is likewise relationship intensive: social relations in giving and receiving care being integral to the quality of provision (Glendinning and Bell, 2008). The costs and the quality of the care system are therefore highly dependent on the care workforce.