Constructions of care in EU economic, social, and gender equality policy: Care providers and care recipients vs. the needs of the economy?

Abstract

The European Union (EU) is facing a crisis of care due to demographic shifts, policies aimed at driving up women’s employment while cutting state care expenditures, and marketizing public care provisions. This article combines feminist political economy approaches to reproductive labor as an essential part of the economy with theories of care ethics to explore the EU’s role in deepening this crisis. It concludes that the EU fails to recognize the importance of care or address it holistically and is more preoccupied with the potential impact on public finances than finding a solution to the care crisis.