By Omar Bekdache
“Capitalism is the greatest economic system” (Redd, 2021), is a claim made by many around the world. The current system is praised for its high productivity and “equal” opportunities. However, when taking an intersectional approach by considering race, class, and gender, it becomes apparent that capitalism fails to provide equal opportunities for different people. Additionally, social costs of the current liberal capitalist system are often overlooked, especially when it comes to care work (Fraser, 2016). I argue that the current capitalist economic system fails to preserve good quality care work, while particularly focusing on developing countries. I begin by demonstrating how the fundamental nature of the economic system, the long working hours, and the absence of fair government support result in a decline in care. Afterwards, I examine the impact of migration, favored by capitalism, on the deterioration of care work. I then go on to point out the failure of government policies aimed at care work especially in the “South”. Finally, I showcase how the care situation unfolds in Lebanon and conclude with personal remarks.
In capitalism, social reproduction, which is “the creation and maintenance of social bonds” (Fraser, 2016), is treated as secondary to production. The latter is deemed to be the most valuable having a monetary value associated with it. Reproduction, however, is not valued unless it has a direct apparent impact on capitalist production. This undervaluation often occurs in capitalist societies that are solely focused on the maximization of short-term profits. Therefore, it can be deduced that the capitalist system aims to increase productivity at all costs, while leaving reproduction behind and not according to its required attention. This analysis makes it clear that care work, an important facet of reproduction, suffers within capitalist societies.
In Lebanon, women are expected to “juggle” their jobs and household responsibilities, with little help provided by the liberal, albeit corrupt, government (Mounzer, 2021). The laws employed by the government to protect care work towards children might as well be seen as nonexistent, due to their lack of fairness and lack of enforcement. Additionally, these laws do not affect a huge proportion of the society that works in the informal sector widely present in the country, a characteristic of “South” countries. In fact, 77.8% of the total employment is informal (ILO, 2021). The response to this shortage of care is met with an increased demand for paid care work, such as in the “North” countries. Lebanon employs over 250000—mostly women—migrant domestic workers in dire, harsh, and exploitative conditions exacerbated by the Kafala system (Legna, 2022) (Ravn, 2021). Human rights abuses occur frequently towards these workers, which is something that must be eradicated. These poor working conditions, favored by the capitalist “money first” system, would no doubt lead to a deterioration of care work witnessed in households.
Nowadays, “the family wage ideal is dead” (Fraser, 2016). Supporting a household with one member working, traditionally the man, has become unrealistic and unattainable. Both the fall in real wages and the rise of feminism have catalyzed this structural transformation of the household. The 20th century showed a radical increase of women joining the workforce (Ortiz-Ospina et al, 2018). Women, who have been traditionally attributed the role of caregivers, now are required by society to balance both jobs and care. While this is a step in the right direction for equality between men and women, it also presents new challenges. With both parents working progressively longer hours, their ability to care for children and the elderly is stretched (Fraser, 2016). Adding to that the reluctance of capitalist governments to provide quality benefits to aid care work, it should come as no surprise that care work deterioration is occurring. Some might argue that this is not a problem since market-based care work is present to fill in the gap in capitalist systems. However, this can be easily refuted since it is only the upper classes that benefit from it, while the poorer suffer long working hours and the inability to take care of children.
Additionally, the current capitalist system favors migration from developing “South” countries to developed “North” countries which gives rise to a deterioration of care in the former countries. Developed countries are witnessing an increase in the demand for care work due to the higher women employment rates and longer working hours (Näre, 2013). Coupled with the fact that the inequalities between developed and developing countries are increasing, an economic incentive is being provided for women to migrate and take up care work (Benería, 2008). In fact, the number of women that are migrating is steadily increasing, a phenomenon that has been dubbed as the “feminization of migration” (Gabaccia, 2016). Women migrants are still expected to conduct some type of “international mothering” (Benería, 2008) which has undoubtedly a negative impact on care. It can therefore be said that there exist hidden costs to migration, favored by capitalism, which include the dislocation of families, leading to a crisis of care in developing countries.
Furthermore, capitalist governments are unable to provide the necessary legislation and policies to protect care work, especially in developing countries. These governments tend to put in place policies that target employers, such as maternity and paternity leave. These policies can be subject to a lot of criticism since, as previously mentioned, capitalist governments are reluctant to provide quality benefits aimed at improving care work. Added to that, they are even less effective in developing countries. In the “South”, a large proportion of people work within the informal sector. Therefore, they would not be impacted by any of the typical capitalist government interventions. Additionally, the unprotected and unregulated nature of the work makes long, grueling, unfairly compensated jobs a normality. People working in the informal sector suffer a lot from the inability of juggling both their work and parental duties. This clearly showcases the inability of capitalist governments and nations to provide the necessary protection and opportunity for people to practice good quality care work. The case of Lebanon is particularly interesting since it exhibits characteristics of both “North” and “South” countries when it comes to care work.
I find it extremely disappointing that the current system favors productive work over reproductive work, especially when it comes to caring for children and the elderly. It is my belief that taking care of children and the elderly is one of the most important duties that one must respond to, no matter the person’s gender. The current system makes it increasingly difficult and neglects the whole importance of this type of work. Also, I believe that this capitalist approach is misguided. While profits might be high currently, failing to take care of future generations would no doubt be translated into huge losses in the future. How can you call a system successful, when it fails to provide the necessary care for those in need, especially for the children which are expected to inherit their forebearer’s legacy and continue humanity’s improvement in the future.
References
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