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This is generating the typical anti-capitalist hate, but we should also consider that this is also a reflection on the kinds of unpaid work that women have been doing for generations. The problem isn't necessarily profits or middle-men, it's just that some things are always going to be expensive if people are actually paid for the work they do.
Take daycare. In the US the government says that one adult should care for no more than 3 infants, no more than 4 toddlers and no more than 7 preschoolers.
Take someone working at the US poverty line at about $15,000 per year. That's $1250 per month. For 3 infants that's $415 per month each, for 4 toddlers that's $312 each, for 7 preschoolers that's $180 each. That's the absolute cheapest you could possibly go, where a worker is at the poverty line, and there are no costs for rent, supplies, and also zero profit.
But, as a parent, you probably don't want the absolute lowest "bidder" to take care of your kids. You probably want someone who's good with kids, kind, gentle, patient, etc. So, let's not even go all the way up to the lowest possible teacher's salary of $34,041 in Montana. Let's say the daycare worker is great with kids, but doesn't have the teaching background to get even the least well paying teaching job available in the country. Let's say you'd be willing to have someone who makes $24,000 per year for easy math. That's a wage where the caregiver is going to struggle to make ends meet in most of the country, but maybe it's worth it for them because they like working with kids. That's $2000 per month. For infants it's $667 per month each or $8000 per year, toddlers it's $500 per month each or $6000 per year. preschoolers it's $285 per month each or about $3500 per year.
Again, this is before you consider any profits. That's money straight from the parents to the caregiver's salary. That's before you consider rent, before supplies, before snacks, etc. That's no reading nook, no library, no arts and crafts, that's presumably just using someone's living room.
Now, if the daycare worker is going to be able to take sick days or vacations, you'll need to pay part of another person's salary who will cover. So instead of 1 person watching 7 preschoolers, you have 10 people watching 70 preschoolers plus 1 who rotates in to cover when the main workers are unavailable, so make that another 10%. We're up to almost $9k per year for an infant, and we still don't have cribs, baby food or a cent in profit, and we have a worker who is barely scraping by.
The point is, any job that involves a lot of human supervision is going to be very expensive. Caring for babies and old or sick people involves a lot of human supervision. Much of this work used to be done by women who didn't work outside the home. Now that women are working outside the home, even when they have young children, we're realizing how expensive it is. None of what I've talked about involves capitalism or profits, it's just purely paying someone to do child-care work while the woman does other work.
But, this is where the capitalism / socialism aspect comes in. If we want women to be able to work outside the home, and we also want kids to be something that isn't financially ruinous, society needs to help pay for those things. In a purely capitalist, no socialism, winner-take-all world, having kids is a major liability. Having an option to not have kids is great, but in the long term society is doomed if nobody is willing to have kids anymore.
This is a very interesting thing to point out, but I believe you are not realising how intrinsically tied the generations of women unpaid work is to the economic system.
"mainstream economic theory is obsessed with the productivity of waged labour while skipping right over the unpaid work that makes it all possible, as feminist economists have made clear for decades. That work is known by many names: unpaid caring work, the reproductive economy, the love economy, the second economy."
"the household provision of care is essential for human well-being, and productivity in the paid economy depends directly upon [the core economy]. It matters because when – in the name of austerity and public-sector savings – governments cut budgets for children’s daycare centres, community services, parental leave and youth clubs, the need for care-giving doesn’t disappear: it just gets pushed back into the home. The pressure, particularly on women’s time, can force them out of work and increase social stress and vulnerability. That undermines both well-being and women’s empowerment, with multiple knock-on effects for society and the economy alike."
Doughnut economics - Kate Raworth
Capitalism thrived and keeps thriving in concentrating capital because it is able to get away with not accounting for the value it extracts. This is true for this example of unpaid labour as well as for natural resources extraction, ecosystem damage etc(we are beginning to realize this with carbon tax). That's the cornerstone of the system function, not just a side effect. The unpaid labour may be starting to be dealt with in the West, but this just means it is aggressively outsourced in third world countries. Without these so-called economic externalities there is no profit (or extremely little of it).
Do I detect a little Barbara Laslett and Johanna Brenner in there? Love the post, chef's kiss!
This is a really good point. Historically communities have always relied on unpaid/underpaid labor in some capacity. Even mowing your neighbors lawn once in a while could be considered a value of a few hundred dollars (fuck lawns btw) - there has always been this invisible layer of communal support that is now becoming commodified.
Marginalized groups being fairly compensated is an objectively good thing, but the financial stress is real. As society continues to grow even more individualistic, we will probably see additional pressures mount until another fundamental shift happens. I have no idea what that will look like, but it is interesting to think about.
The only way it will work is taxes. There's an irreconcilable gap between what people can afford and what is a fair wage for proper supervision.
A very interesting and well-written post.