Blog 3 Care and Work

Growing up I was an only child till I was in junior high, so until then I never really had experience with carework. My mother though worked from home so she did the majority of my caretaking. My dad worked for a large corporation and was travelling most of the time. I did not grow up knowing my father very well because he was placed in the role of “breadwinner” while my mother stayed at home to take care of me. My father spent most of the time out of the country or in the office. After my sister was born I did some carework myself. My mother taught me how to change diapers, feed, and burp her. As she got older, I would babysit her while my mom needed to run errands or if my parents went out. My mother’s parents are both healthy so we have never had them living in our home. Also, my father’s parents live in Spain so we have never had to do carework for them.

In the first part of the “Juggling Work and Care” they said the British economy needs about two million more workers and women were filling that void. The Sue Green Team seems to have a good approach to balancing work and care. They work in small teams versus having a manager who oversees everyone. So if someone needed to leave work early they could decide as team instead of asking a manager they can ask the team leader. The second part of the video also lays out what a caregiving employee would need: understanding from manager, access to information and advice, flexibility, flexible working, and flexible leave arrangements. Of all these things, I feel the flexible working and leave arrangements are the most important, as well as understanding from management. It is also important to keep in mind women may not always be the caregivers, men may need flexibility or time off as well.