Women, Work and Care of the Elderly

’This book is about the problematic interface of paid and unpaid work which affects the lives of women. Mears and Watson address this conundrum through a consideration of time as a moral issue. They argue that individuals give time to what they value but wages are attached only to time spent in paid employment. Thus the value of paid work is ranked superior to that of other pursuits, in this case, caring for the elderly members. The underlying thesis of the book is that family care is NOT a family problem. The authors move beyond the tired exhortation that policy needs to support caregivers by arguing that the time spent on caring contributes to the welfare of a society and thus employment policies are the site where change must occur.’ Professor Sheila M. Neysmith, Faculty of Social Work, University of Toronto, Canada ’The study's strength lies in its detailed presentation of the interview data and its clear, concise yet cogent writing style. It is a work that can and should be widely read, both in academia and in the general community...likely to be very popular with students seeking true-to-life accounts of one of the most pressing issues facing working women (and men, although few may realise it) today.’ Australasian Journal on Ageing