Caring Labor

Abstract

Caring has two different aspects: the motivation of caring for other people and the activity of caring for them. Furthermore, good-quality care depends on the developing relationship between a carer and the person cared for. In paid employment, however, rela tionships are usually assumed to be reduced to an exchange transaction and motivation to be simply monetary, provoking concern about whether paying for care diminishes its quality and authenticity. Similar issues have arisen in the context of emotional labor more generally. Much emotional labor, however, is of a transitory nature in which no long-term relationship is set up between worker and customer. This article argues that because of the relationship that tends to develop, paid caring may not be so different from unpaid caring. Rather, caring occupations should be seen as part of a whole class of occupations that are not fully commodified, in which workers have motivations that are not purely monetary and also care about the results of their work.