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Nov 23, 2024
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2024-2025 Undergraduate Catalog
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SOCI 0341 - Caregiving and Carework
Credits: 3
Crosslisted: GERO 0300 .
Care work is foundational to human survival and the social glue that keeps families and communities intact. But how much do we, as a society, value care labor? Who should be responsible for family care and the needs of children, the sick, frail elderly, and other vulnerable people? Some call it love’s labor but does that mean it has no monetary value? When care work does become paid labor, why are wages so low? In this course, students will explore the tension between care work as private responsibility and care work as a “public good,” worthy of national investment. Students begin the course by examining the “price” of caring, focusing particularly on the cost of motherhood. Students will also take a comparative angle on care by considering other nations’ family policies as well as comparing the disparity in access to care across socioeconomic class in the United States. Students will continue to return to the question throughout the course as they examine other aspects of care work: should the larger society have responsibility to ensure people have decent care? Throughout this course, students’ personal reflections about career, family, and care work will be welcome in class discussion.
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