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Who Cares? Capitalism and the Reproduction of the Working Class

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  • Paddy Quick

Abstract

The concept of “caring labor†obscures the process of surplus extraction in the capitalist mode of production. In particular, the government’s provision of services such as preschool child care needs to be understood as having the effect of substituting for the care provided by the household rather than adding to it. The process of substitution is one that involves a decrease in household labor and a corresponding increase in wage labor, in particular that of women. Within the capitalist workplace, the labor time “saved†by the development of a “more efficient†form of child care (as a component of the labor necessary for the reproduction of the working class) is appropriated by the capitalist class. The increasing labor force participation rate of women that results from this process of substitution does not necessarily constitute a decrease in their oppression. JEL Classification : B14, B54, H53

Suggested Citation

  • Paddy Quick, 2022. "Who Cares? Capitalism and the Reproduction of the Working Class," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 54(4), pages 429-434, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:reorpe:v:54:y:2022:i:4:p:429-434
    DOI: 10.1177/04866134221099311
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    care work; household production; necessary labor; child care; labor force participation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B14 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought through 1925 - - - Socialist; Marxist
    • B54 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Feminist Economics
    • H53 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Welfare Programs

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