Care and Equality: Inventing a New Family Politics

Who is now caring for America's children, for the elderly, the sick, the disabled? In practical and general terms, the answer is: nobody.


According to Mona Harrington, the traditional system of caregiving--until now almost entirely dependent on the unpaid labor of women in the home--is in a chaotic state of disrepair, as women, out of necessity, move into the workplace. Harrington issues an urgent call for new political conversations about assigning responsibility for this important part of the "general welfare" that the Constitution charges us to promote. Care must now, Harrington argues, become the joint responsibility of the family, the private employer, and the various levels of government. This will involve redrawing the boundary between private and public responsibility and require public and private funding that supports health care, family leave, child and elder care by family members or paid workers, good wages for care workers, and decent housing. And perhaps most important of all to this radical reexamination of caretaking is the establishment of care as a national value.


Outlining a new pro-family politics that recognizes the need of individuals for both autonomy and intimate, lasting connection to others, Harrington proposes policies that include efforts to prevent teenage pregnancy, public support for single-parent families, public and private support for the relief of stresses on marriage, and an effort to bring many more voices into policy discussions.


A brilliantly reasoned, cliché-free analysis of one of our toughest problems. An important book for the politician, the policy maker, and the private citizen.