Who cares? Feminist Perspectives on Care Work in Times of Crisis

Whether paid or unpaid, care work is mostly done by women around the world. It encompasses activities such as connection, love, care, education, nursing and support, and demands a lot of time.

In addition to that, in Turkey, the effects of the economic crisis can be felt everywhere: a tight labor market, the special burdens of the pandemic and the lack of commitment from the state have affected women particularly hard.

How care work is organized and distributed in private households and who takes on the work, is already decided through the definition of state policy, by the parameters defined for the care and education of children, as well as the care of the elderly, the sick and people with disabilities. The conservative-Islamic neoliberal economic policy in the 2000s has developed a new regulation concerning the care regime: The family was placed at the center of care and the female members of the family were determined as the ones with primary responsibility for care work. Bearing the brunt of care, the family took responsibility for care work, which also includes elderly and disabled family members. This deepened gender inequality further. This problem is exacerbated by the conservative call on women to have more children. Due to their sole responsibility for care, women are prevented from entering employment and from taking part in social and public life to the full extent and as they wish. Gender inequality is thus further exacerbated. The fact is that the state's resources and time allocated to caring for the elderly and children are being reduced constantly. What the state is doing here is to use a conservative image of the family to cover up the deficits in its social and labor market policy - where fewer women compete with men in the labor market in a poor economic situation, men feel less threatened and so does the state burden women with the responsibility of care and additional work while it saves money in kindergartens and other related institutions.

During the long-lasting pandemic, care services and care work have again become a controversial issue all over the world. The crisis brought up discussions on the importance, necessity and indispensability of care work, and how care should be provided, and by whom.

Through the imposition of lockdowns, the unfair allocation of domestic and care work has reinforced gender inequality. Duties such as homeschooling, taking care of children who were not able to go to kindergarten, or of family members in need augmented the burden of women. The situation actually revealed the fact that women were the ones who lost more in the pandemic.

It is seen that domestic care services, which are the responsibility of women, are shared with different institutions and structures when women participate in working life. Domestic workers, most of whom are precarious and migrant women, who undertake the domestic responsibilities of working women, became the first women to be released in the pandemic. The pandemic related closure of workplaces and dismissals in sectors with a high rate of women employees have increased the female unemployment rate. In households that have become impoverished due to high living costs and decrease in household incomes, care work has become more demanding and more time-consuming. 

At the conference on September 17th, 2022 we want to discuss the following questions with you:

• All people are dependent on others for care; no one is exempt from this. But if care work is such an essential component of life, why do state and society almost completely pass the responsibility of care on women?
• What are the inevitable social results of women being the sole responsible for care services? 
• How can care work and services be reorganized in accordance with gender equality? What should be the responsibilities of the public bodies, local governments and men in these services?
• How should care work and services be regulated to overcome gender inequality? Which arrangements in working life and what options of caregiving are necessary to ensure the compatibility of working life and domestic care work?
• How does increased care work affect poor sections of societies, migrant women, or internally displaced people? How can the vulnerabilities and disadvantages of these groups be eliminated?
• What are different country experiences/ policies in care work? Are there good examples?
• How are political parties proposing on this issue as we are approaching the 2023 elections? What are their policies concerning the institutions that are under the responsibility of the state and will undertake the responsibility of care services, such as kindergartens, nursing homes, etc.?

We are very much looking for your participation in this conference, which we hope will make a contribution to the efforts for providing and receiving humane and decent care services, while taking the gender aspect into consideration.

09:00-09:30    Registration

09:30-09:45    Opening Speech: Kristian Brakel, Heinrich Böll Stiftung Turkey Representative

09:45-10:15    Presentation of Research Report: Bekir Ağırdır, KONDA (Study “Care Work and Time Use During the Pandemic”)

10:15-12:15    I. Session:  How are Care Services Organized? How can Care Services be Reorganized in Line With Gender Equality?

 Emel Memiş Parmaksız, Making Transition to Care Society

Çağla Ünlütürk Ulutaş, Child Care Regime and Gender Equality in Turkey

Özge İzdeş Terkoğlu, Elderly Care and Women's Employment

Moderator: Feryal Saygılıgil

12:15-13:30    Lunch

13:30-15:30    II. Session: A Global Approach to Care / Which Regulations Need to be Implemented in Working Conditions and Care Services in Order to Harmonize Occupational Life and Care Labor?

Britta Andrea Sembach, We Care! But Who Cares for the Ones Who Care? A Critique of the Neoliberal Approach to (Care) Work and how We can Change It

Ayşe Emel Akalın, Care Work as a Decent Work and Gender Equality

Catherine Rottenberg, The Care Manifesto: Outlining a Politics of Care

Moderator: Gülay Günlük-Şenesen

15:30-16:00    Coffee Break

16:00-18:00    III. Session: Does Politics Care? Approaches of Political Parties to the Care Work Issue

CHP

HDP

Deva Partisi

Moderator: Kristian Brakel