Care Policy at the centre of Women’s Budget Group Spring Conference

Last week, Care England’s Abi Walton and Ella Blyth attended the Women’s Budget Group Early Career Network Spring Conference to discuss the future of care policy. The Women’s Budget Group is the UK’s leading feminist economics thinktank focusing on understanding the economy and society through a gendered lens. 

This conference was specifically looking at how care interacts with policy. Attendees came from a wide variety of backgrounds across research and policy, allowing for diverse insights to be shared and fascinating discussions to occur. The day consisted of three sessions; a world café in which different themes were discussed through a feminist lens, a workshop comparing care policy in two countries, and finally a look at future building, where care policy was at the centre. 

The world café allowed for attendees to go round the room in small groups and discuss six major topics; cost of living, climate justice, social reproduction, social security, care, and intersectionality. The key themes that emerged from these discussions is that the value of care in policy is often overlooked and those that must undertake that burden, primarily women, are not valued or recognised for their hard work. This applies to both unpaid care and paid care work, which has systematically been undervalued both culturally and monetarily. We contributed insights into how policy within the adult social care sector occurs in practise and the difficulties in implementation, such as fractured accountability, meaning that vital issues often fall through the cracks. The gendered nature of care cannot be separated from it, which must be reflected in policy.  

Following on from this discussion, the group attended a workshop on gender responsive care policies in Scotland and Colombia, stemming from the research of Carolina Hererra, a PhD student from Glasgow Caledonian University. This fascinating comparison shed light on the importance of situating care policy within gendered contexts, addressing intersectionality, and approaching strategic versus practical needs within care. 

The day concluded with a final session on Care, Connection, and Collective Strategy, and how we should build towards a better future. Dr Daniella Jenkins, WBG’s Director, began this session by stating that ‘when we advocate for policy change, we are advocating for a different future’. The group came together to think about how best to integrate care into future policy, a critical aspect of achieving genuine gender equality. 

The discussions of the day provided a crucial backdrop to Care England’s upcoming paper on gender inequality within the care sector. The feminised nature of care has most likely influenced external perceptions of the care sector, leading to persistent undervaluation. Women make up 78% of the care workforce but are consistently underrepresented at executive levels. In this paper, Care England proposes a series of governmental and provider-level recommendations to encourage gender equality within the care workforce. Keep an eye out for this report’s release in the next few weeks. 

Thank you to the Women’s Budget Group for such a fantastic day and for facilitating these important discussions.