Care, Caregiving, and Caregivers

Abstract

Research and common knowledge maintain that women are the primary caregivers of children and thus are crucial to explaining care. Yet most conceptual paradigms guiding the analysis of care allow little room for examining who is caring for the caregiver. A consideration of care must include a deconstruction of what constitutes care, the process of caregiving that influences child survival, the way caring acts are divided in a society, and how such acts are integrated into a matrix of other supportive activities. This paper reviews the meaning of care cross-culturally and the context in which care takes place, and focuses on child care and child-feeding as key activities. It concludes with action strategies and policy challenges following from a gender analysis of care.