A01=Nancy Folbre
Author_Nancy Folbre
Category=JBSF
Category=KC
Category=KCVJ
daycare
domestic workers
economic dignity
economic justice
eldercare
eq_bestseller
eq_business-finance-law
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_new_release
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
family policy
GDP
gender inequality
gender wage gap
invisible labor
Marxist feminist theory
political economy
second shift
socialization of care
wages for housework
well-being
Product details
- ISBN 9780520405622
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 31 Mar 2026
- Publisher: University of California Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A bold critique of conventional economics that reveals why the time and money we devote to care work is vital to our economic future.
Our economy is much bigger than the dollar value of things we buy and sell. It depends on us—our health, our creativity, and our moral commitments. These capabilities don't have price tags but are crucial to a sustainable future. We need to acknowledge and reward the value of caring for ourselves and others, especially our children, our elderly, and those experiencing illness or disability.
From leading feminist economist Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work provides a compelling historical and economic account of care provision in the United States. Folbre traces the long and colorful history of resistance to bogus claims that only paid work "counts" and that employees in care services are always paid what they deserve. Explaining why care providers remain economically vulnerable today, she argues that more attention to the public benefits of care provision could help build the political coalitions needed to implement policies that put people first.
In this comprehensive and bold book, Folbre upends conventional economic thinking and maps a hopeful path toward a more equitable and sustainable economy.
Our economy is much bigger than the dollar value of things we buy and sell. It depends on us—our health, our creativity, and our moral commitments. These capabilities don't have price tags but are crucial to a sustainable future. We need to acknowledge and reward the value of caring for ourselves and others, especially our children, our elderly, and those experiencing illness or disability.
From leading feminist economist Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work provides a compelling historical and economic account of care provision in the United States. Folbre traces the long and colorful history of resistance to bogus claims that only paid work "counts" and that employees in care services are always paid what they deserve. Explaining why care providers remain economically vulnerable today, she argues that more attention to the public benefits of care provision could help build the political coalitions needed to implement policies that put people first.
In this comprehensive and bold book, Folbre upends conventional economic thinking and maps a hopeful path toward a more equitable and sustainable economy.
Nancy Folbre is Director of the Program on Gender and Care Work at the Political Economy Research Institute and Professor Emerita of Economics at UMass Amherst. She is the author of many books, including The Invisible Heart: Economics and Family Values.
