No abstract

No abstract

Although international research has shown an increase in precarious work in recent decades, few of these studies have been devoted to paid care work. This article joins feminist research on care work with work–life balance-oriented research on precarious work to study the work situation of Swedish homecare workers. The results show a high prevalence of multidimensional precariousness among the care workers and reveal how several indicators of job precariousness are associated with physical and mental strain, poor work–life balance, and intentions to quit the job, including time pressure, lack of job control and limited possibilities to develop and use skills, as well as to create and keep relations with users.

Nordic countries are known for their service‐based welfare states, which include basic health and social care for all older adults who have been formally assessed and found to need additional services. Facing fiscal constraints in the mid‐1990s, these countries endeavoured to create more cost‐effective care services that incorporated the doctrines of new public management (NPM). Overlapping NPM, steps have been taken to better integrate services and utilise the care capacity of a broader institutional and environmental set of actors. In this study, we draw attention to this call for collaborative and participatory modes of governance beyond NPM. We explore whether and how Nordic eldercare policies fit in to the framework and logic of new public governance (NPG). The data consist of 62 key government documents from five Nordic countries, representing the central features of eldercare policies over the past 10 years. Our content analysis is based on three conceptual lenses associated with NPG: service integration, service co‐production and cross‐sectoral co‐creation. The analysis shows that several policy issues are framed by the logic of NPG in all countries. Further research is needed to assess how these NPG measures are implemented and interacting with institutional arrangements of other public governance paradigms.

No abstract