Double Jeopardy: The Impact of Neoliberalism on Care Workers in the United States and South Africa

Abstract

Many researchers have explored how neoliberal restructuring of the workplace has reduced the standard of living and increased workplace stress among private sector employees. However, few have focused on how neoliberal restructuring of public policy has had similar effects on the public sector workforce. Using original case study research, the authors examine how two iconic pieces of neoliberal policy—the 1996 welfare reform bill in the United States and the GEAR macroeconomic policy in South Africa—affected public/nonprofit human service workers in New York City, United States, and public sector nurses in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The authors argue that in both situations, despite national differences, these policies created a “double jeopardy,” in which patients/clients and care workers are adversely affected by neoliberal public policy. This “double jeopardy” creates significant hardship, but also the opportunity for new social movements.