In Gender, Development and Globalisation, Lourdes Benería, Günseli Berik and María Floro (2018) summarise two possible approaches to this: a ‘rights’ approach and a ‘capabilities’ approach. Unlike conventional ways of understanding the economy, feminist economics proposes a different model that aspires to achieve a fair economic order, assuring a dignified quality of life for all people, and to keep in mind what is vital: the revaluation of social reproduction activities. Most studies from a feminist perspective aim to introduce care as a core value and as a right in a reform of the Constitution, and it is therefore vitally important to establish a framework in which the right to care can be developed.ĭiscussion: towards a constitutional feminist economic model that includes the right to care 1 Research on options for constitutional reform has been ongoing for some years. These arguments have gained significant ground in Spain since 2016 and with even greater vigour since the start of the pandemic. To achieve this, societies will need to invest in care and health, and to educate their populations on the values of solidarity, diversity, equality and co-responsibility.Įducation, new values and changes in cultural and economic paradigms are all ideals that are being reaffirmed at this time of crisis. This requires a cultural shift that reassesses what is truly important: the health of citizens in a sustainable environment, without pollution and with essential conditions guaranteed. To achieve equality between women and men, two strategies are needed: first, the revaluation of care and, second, men’s involvement in care in the family, society and state institutions in a co-responsible manner.Ĭaring, whether paid or unpaid, must be revalued in society and count towards the economy ( Moltó Carbonell and Uriel, 2008: 228), not least because the survival of society depends on caring. Providing care, which is essential to the sustainability of life, has placed them in a position of discrimination and has negatively affected them in exercising their rights, particularly as regards equality, employment and political participation ( Marrades Puig, 2019: 23). Historically, they have assumed the caring role and continue to do so, as the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated. In the health and social sector, 70 per cent of workers are women, both in professional contexts and in private life, where in the family, carers of children, older people and people with illnesses and long-term care needs are also mainly women ( Cátedra de Economía feminista ante la Covid19, 2020 UN, no date). It is evident that care work is not well paid, and for many caregivers, it is not paid at all, especially in (non-professional) care, carried out mostly by women. Further, ‘although the crisis has made visible the “essential” nature of this care work, the work is systematically undervalued and invisible’ ( Kabeer et al, 2021: 3), this is also the case for caregivers – those who provide care to others. ![]() ![]() We are vulnerable and interdependent, and in fragile circumstances, we need each other. Thus, caring for people must be revalued within the framework of a social state of law. ![]() The COVID-19 crisis has vividly demonstrated the extreme vulnerability of human beings, the value of life and everything that helps sustain it. Even more importantly, it has led institutions to address the problem and the outstanding debt that they (and we all) have in the areas of caring and other activities of social reproduction regarding the value currently attributed to them and that which they are truly due. We are living in a time without precedent in the known and lived experience of current generations: a health crisis that has highlighted the fragility of health services, social services, the education system and, especially, the economy but that, above all, has altered value systems and priorities. Introduction: the value of care, with particular focus on the COVID-19 crisis
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