Co-Production of Care During COVID-19

Andersen, Ditte; Kirkegaard, Sine; Toubøl, Jonas; Carlsen, Hjalmar Bang

doi:10.1177/1536504220977928

Cited by 13 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 4 publications

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“…The combination of a lockdown of public welfare provision and a call for civic action implied a temporary relocation of some care work from welfare professionals to volunteers. The mobilisation of civil society was very successful in Denmark, and citizens volunteered to help in large numbers (Andersen et al, 2020). Yet, the political and gendered implications of the mobilisation remain obscure, and this is what we shed light on in the present study.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Imposed volunteering: Gender and caring responsibilities during the COVID-19 lockdown

Andersen

Toubøl

Kirkegaard

et al. 2021

The Sociological Review

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This article contributes to the sociology of care-relational justice by identifying, conceptualising and unpacking ‘imposed volunteering’ as a mechanism that shapes societal caring arrangements. Contemporary societies allocate care work disproportionately to women, ethnic minorities and working-class citizens, which exacerbates social inequalities. Distribution of caring responsibilities is a political question but often not recognised as such, because it is deeply immersed in everyday routines. Our study uses the context of the COVID-19 pandemic to dissect the distribution mechanisms that became unusually palpable when the lockdown of public welfare provision in Denmark relocated some forms of care work from professionals to volunteers. With the term imposed volunteering, we conceptualise the feeling of being coerced into taking on new caring responsibilities, which some women – and men – experienced during the lockdown. Drawing on a national, representative survey, we document that, compared to men, women carried out significantly more voluntary care work and organised voluntary work through informal personal networks rather than through formal civil society organisations to a significantly higher degree. We unpack the experience of imposed volunteering as it unfolded during the lockdown through qualitative case studies, and clarify how relational and institutional factors, such as gendered expectations and the sense of personal obligation, imposed volunteering. Our study illuminates the importance of public care, reciprocal caring relationships and care for carers, and demonstrates why the mobilisation of care work volunteers must take gendered implications into account if it is to be consistent with democratic commitments to justice, equality and freedom for all.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 69%

Imposed volunteering: Gender and caring responsibilities during the COVID-19 lockdown

Andersen

Toubøl

Kirkegaard

et al. 2021

The Sociological Review

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“…The corporatist German welfare regime (Esping-Andersen, 1990 ) provides considerable formal support for people in need due to “classic” social risks (Taylor-Gooby, 2004 ). Yet, similar to other European countries, such as Denmark, the first lockdown increased the demand for informal social support, especially for newly dependent individuals, due to pandemic-specific risks (Andersen et al, 2020 ). Thus, the situation of German citizens in need of support during the first wave of the pandemic is likely to be comparable to the situation in other continental European countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 96%

Who Received Informal Social Support During the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Germany, and Who Did Not? The Role of Social Networks, Life Course and Pandemic-Specific Risks

Bertogg

Koos

2022

Soc Indic Res

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In this article, we study the receipt of informal support during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. The containment measures have had various, far-reaching consequences for the wellbeing of people, creating demands for economic, practical, and emotional support—even among individuals who hitherto were not in need of support. Existing research has shown substantial levels of informal support during the pandemic, often based on individuals’ existing social networks, but has predominantly taken the perspective of donors. In this article, we focus on the “demand” or recipient “side” of informal support, and ask: (1) Who receives which type of informal social support during the pandemic? (2) Who reports unmet need? (3) Which factors explain support receipt, unmet need and the type of support received? To explain patterns of receiving social support, we identify “classic” life course and “new” pandemic-specific risks and complement this perspective with individuals’ support potentials from their social networks. Empirically, we use data from an online survey, collected among a quota sample of the German population (n = 4,496) at the end of the first lockdown in late spring 2020. Our analysis shows that one in six respondents received social support, while only 3% report unmet need. Practical and emotional support are most widespread. Using logistic and multinomial logistic regression models our results show that social support in general and the type of support received can be explained by life course and pandemic risks, while unmet need is mainly a consequence of social network structure.

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“…The closure of borders and accompanying lockdowns, saw several welfare agencies (private and public) downscaling their social and health support services in order to limit the spread of the virus. In response, scholars have noted how members of the public self-organized to offer relief to the most vulnerable members of the community (Andersen et al, 2020;Koos and Bertogg, 2020;Woodman, 2020;Carlsen et al, 2021). According to Fernandes-Jesus et al (2021), mutual aid groups constituted an indispensable element of the public response to the pandemic, offering many forms of support, in particular grocery shopping.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Communication Technologies and Aid Practices: Superbergamo, Group Chats, and the COVID-19 Pandemic

Parolin

Pellegrinelli

2022

Front. Commun.

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This article examines “Superbergamo”, a collective which emerged in response to the needs of vulnerable citizens during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic in Bergamo (Italy). The analysis reveals the central role of social media and group chat systems in facilitating the spontaneous creation of the group, and the subsequent development of coordinated voluntary emergency activities that brought aid to thousands of local people. Inspired by Actor-Network theory, the analysis traces of the group's emergence, showing how human and non-human actors—including social media and group chat apps—played a crucial role in shaping the aid practice. In so doing, we contribute to the literature on emergency responses from the public and social media. More significantly, we show how the critical contribution of technology to the development and sustenance of aid practices can be mapped, by providing evidence of how groups, practices and sociomaterial networks are necessarily entangled.

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Co-Production of Care During COVID-19

Abstract: This feature article explores how Danish authorities have worked to secure public health in cooperation with citizens, companies, and civil society organizations amid an unfolding pandemic.

Cited by 13 publications

References 4 publications

Imposed volunteering: Gender and caring responsibilities during the COVID-19 lockdown

Imposed volunteering: Gender and caring responsibilities during the COVID-19 lockdown

Who Received Informal Social Support During the First COVID-19 Lockdown in Germany, and Who Did Not? The Role of Social Networks, Life Course and Pandemic-Specific Risks

Communication Technologies and Aid Practices: Superbergamo, Group Chats, and the COVID-19 Pandemic

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