This article suggests that the literature on care, which originally was
heavily influenced by a gendered perspective, has now taken on other
important variables. However, it is argued that if we look at the particular
impact of the marketisation and privatisation of long-term care, we can
see that gender is still a useful perspective on the production of care, especially
paid care. The reordering of the delivery of domiciliary care
within the ‘mixed economy of welfare’ is having important effects on the
labour market for care and is likely to lead to further inequalities between
women, both now and in old age. The article proceeds to look at the
impact of these inequalities on the consumption of care in old age, particularly
by elderly women and considers factors that may provide women
with the resources to purchase care and/or pay charges for care. The
article argues that gender does still matter, but that its impact has to be
understood within a context of growing inequalities between women,
and an analysis that takes account of wider social and economic relations
within kin networks and between generations.
The Rise in Old Age Longevity and the Market for Long-Term Care