For Love or Money—Or Both?

Abstract

The connections between the world of money and profit and the world of care and concern are of great importance to society. Traditionally, the "public" world of markets and government was the realm of men, while the "private" realm of family and social relationships was entrusted to women. While some of women's tasks were largely instrumental-cleaning and cooking, for example-many tasks contained more personalized and emotional components. Women were in charge of children, elderly, and the ill; maintaining personal relationships; offering emotional support, personal attention, and listening; embodying (or so it was understood) sexuality. This social contract is changing. As women move increasingly into the world of paid work, many of these traditional intimate tasks are being performed in relationships that include the explicit movement of money. Paid child care, nursing homes for the elderly, talk therapy and phone sex are just a few examples. What are economists to make of this trend?This essay analyzes the consequences of this mixing of realms of "love" and "money" for economic analysis, societal well-being, and public policy. We document the empirical magnitudes of the shifts from nonmarket to market time use, with an eye to their gender dimensions and implications for economic theory. On a more philosophical note, we point out that most current intellectual conceptualizations of these economic issues are inadequate. Whether commentators celebrate the movement to the market or bemoan it, the use of unexamined assumptions and outdated rhetoric is endemic to the literature. An a priori judgment that markets must improve caregiving by increasing efficiency puts the brakes on intelligent research, rather than encouraging it. Likewise, an

Conceptualising Body Work in Health and Social Care

“…Meanwhile the rise in women's paid employment has left a 'care deficit' in the care of young children and the infirm ageing population that is being filled with paid employees (Hochschild 2003b, Folbre andNelson 2000). Hence health care and personal support occupations are among the fastest growing occupations (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2003).…”

Poisoning the Well, or How Economic Theory Damages Moral Imagination

“…In addition, as common-sense observation suggests, and research confirms, humans demonstrate pro-social as well as self-interested motivations in economic situations (Folbre and Nelson 2000;Fehr and Falk 2002), and diverge widely from the sort of decision-making assumed in models of "economic man" (Kahneman 2003). Actual observation of human behavior, in business and markets as elsewhere, reveals a mix of motivations which can in regard to ethics often be summarized as "neither selfish nor exploited" (Margolis 1982) or "pragmatic" (Dees and Cramton 1991;Gentile 2010).…”

Who Cares - And Does It Matter? Measuring Wage Penalties for Caring Work

“…Labor market sorting no doubt results in caring persons working disproportionately in jobs with caring tasks. 2 Works include England and Folbre (1999), Folbre and Nelson (2000), England (2005) and Folbre (2006Folbre ( , 2008Folbre ( , 2012 worker, one year apart. The panel analysis identifies differentials for caring work based on wage changes among job switchers who increase or decrease the required levels of caring in their jobs.…”