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Work-from-home during COVID-19: Accounting for the care economy to build back better

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  • Fiona Jenkins
  • Julie Smith

Abstract

In the COVID-19 pandemic, people’s dwellings suddenly became a predominant site of economic activity. We argue that, predictably, policy-makers and employers took the home for granted as a background support of economic life. Acting as if home is a cost-less resource that is free for appropriation in an emergency, ignoring how home functions as a site of gendered relations of care and labour, and assuming home is a largely harmonious site, all shaped the invisibility of the imposition. Taking employee flexibility for granted and presenting work-from-home as a privilege offered by generous employers assumed rapid adaptation. As Australia emerges from lockdown, ‘building back better’ to meet future shocks entails better supporting adaptive capabilities of workers in the care economy, and of homes that have likewise played an unacknowledged role as buffer and shelter for the economy. Investing in infrastructure capable of providing a more equitable basis for future resilience is urgent to reap the benefits that work-from-home offers. This article points to the need for rethinking public investment and infrastructure priorities for economic recovery and reconstruction in the light of a gender perspective on COVID-19 ‘lockdown’ experience. JEL Codes: E01, E22, J24

Suggested Citation

  • Fiona Jenkins & Julie Smith, 2021. "Work-from-home during COVID-19: Accounting for the care economy to build back better," The Economic and Labour Relations Review, , vol. 32(1), pages 22-38, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ecolab:v:32:y:2021:i:1:p:22-38
    DOI: 10.1177/1035304620983608
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Wang, Richard & Ye, Zhongnan & Lu, Miaojia & Hsu, Shu-Chien, 2022. "Understanding post-pandemic work-from-home behaviours and community level energy reduction via agent-based modelling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 322(C).
    2. Leonardo Carnut & Lucas Uback & Áquilas Mendes, 2023. "Has the COVID-19 Pandemic Cooled Down or Stimulated the Countertendencies of Capital? A Critical Review," Economies, MDPI, vol. 11(5), pages 1-17, May.
    3. Ruth D. Neill & Patricia Gillen & John Moriarty & Jill Manthorpe & John Mallett & Heike Schroder & Denise Currie & Patricia Nicholl & Jermaine Ravalier & Susan McGrory & Paula McFadden, 2022. "Comparing Psychological Wellbeing and Work-Related Quality of Life between Professional Groups within Health and Social Care during the COVID-19 Pandemic in the UK," Merits, MDPI, vol. 2(4), pages 1-13, November.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Altruism; care economy; childcare; COVID-19; gender relations; household capital; national income accounting; nonmarket work; work-from-home;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E01 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - General - - - Measurement and Data on National Income and Product Accounts and Wealth; Environmental Accounts
    • E22 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Consumption, Saving, Production, Employment, and Investment - - - Investment; Capital; Intangible Capital; Capacity
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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