The Shared Responsibility of Care: Debates over Health and Social Care Provision during the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

In her 2021 State of the Union address, delivered against the backdrop of a raging covid-19 pandemic, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced a new European Care Strategy. If the pandemic had taught us one thing, Von der Leyen argued, it was the value of time spent with those close to us. The European Care Strategy was therefore intended "to support men and women in finding the best care and the best life balance for them."1 The news was welcomed by the European Association of Service Providers for Persons with Disabilities, whose president Luk Zelderloo, in commenting on the strategy, referred to the notion of balance on a wider scale: "[the strategy should outline] how to divide responsibilities between public authorities, notfor-profit and social economy providers and those who draw on care services."2 When the European Care Strategy was launched in 2022, it emphasized the importance of work-life balance for informal caregivers, a clear regulatory framework for public and private initiatives and a shared commitment of all stakeholders.3 1 "2021 State of the Union Address by President von der Leyen," European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/ov/SPEECH_21_4701, accessed 18 October 2022. 2 "Yes dear President, we are with you!" European Association of Service providers for Persons with Disabilities, https://easpd.eu/press-releases-detail/yes-dear-president-we-are-withyou/#:~:text=European%20Commission%20President%20Ursula%20von,on%20their%20 agenda%20for%202022, accessed 18 October 2022.