“Invisible No More: Care Work, Capitalism, and the Feminist Fight for Recognition”

Care Work Is the Backbone of Society—So Why Is It Invisible?

She feeds.

She cleans.

She wipes away tears and changes the sheets.

She does the work that makes all other work possible.

And yet—she’s unpaid. Or underpaid. Or overworked. Or simply assumed.

In a capitalist system, productivity is currency.

And care work, because it isn’t “profitable,” is treated as disposable.

But it isn’t.

It’s foundational.

What Is Care Work, Really?

Care work includes:

• Parenting and elder care

• Domestic labor like cleaning, cooking, laundry

• Nursing, teaching, midwifery, social work

• Emotional support and community caretaking

It’s the labor that sustains lives—but gets ignored by the systems that benefit from it.

Capitalism Doesn’t Count What It Can’t Control

In our economic model:

• Stocks are valued more than sick leave

• Billionaires are praised more than birth workers

• The GDP doesn’t reflect who’s feeding the children or cleaning the hospitals

Why?

Because capitalism was never built to honor what women—and especially poor, Black, brown, and immigrant women—do to keep society alive.

The Feminist History of Devalued Labor

From the beginning, gendered division of labor meant:

• Men’s work = paid, skilled, respected

• Women’s work = unpaid, emotional, expected

And that division has never truly ended.

Even today, care industries:

• Pay less than male-dominated fields

• Have fewer benefits

• Offer less upward mobility

Women aren’t “choosing” underpayment.

They’re being structurally undervalued.

Why Care Work Is a Racial Justice Issue

Globally and historically:

• Colonization and slavery relied on Black and Indigenous women to care for white households

• Migrant women from the Global South are now filling in gaps in Western care economies

• These women are often denied rights, protections, and pay

Feminism that ignores care work is feminism that ignores colonial legacies.

Pandemic Proof: We Can’t Survive Without Care

COVID-19 revealed the truth:

• Nurses were overworked

• Teachers were expected to adapt overnight

• Mothers became full-time caregivers with no help

• Domestic workers lost jobs—and weren’t protected

Suddenly, “essential work” was the very labor we’d previously dismissed.

And yet… those workers are still waiting for pay equity, benefits, and respect.

Let’s Talk About Pay

Want to value care work? Pay it like it matters.

Let’s look at the stats. Role, Average U.S. Salary(2024), and % Female Workforce.

• Software Developer: $124,000: 25%

• Nurse: $77,000: 87%

• Preschool Teacher: $36,000: 97%

• Home Health Aide: $30,000: 89%

These aren’t “low-skill” jobs.

They’re low-paid because they’re feminized.

Valuing Care Beyond the Paycheck

While wages matter, recognition goes beyond money:

• Legal protections for domestic workers

• Healthcare and housing for caregivers

• Mental health services for burnout

• National policies that subsidize child and elder care

• Cultural narratives that praise, not patronize, care

Feminist economies think beyond profit—they prioritize people.

Policy Is Feminist Work

Some solutions:

• Universal childcare—so parents, especially women, can work or rest

• Paid family leave—for all genders, not just mothers

• Living wages for care workers

• Unions for domestic workers

• Public investment in healthcare and elder care

These are not luxuries.

They’re infrastructure.

Resisting the Care Crisis

If we don’t act:

• Burnout will continue to crush women

• Aging populations will be left without support

• The next pandemic will hit even harder

• The economy will remain unjust and unsustainable

Care work is not a private burden.

It’s a public good.

What You Can Do

• Support campaigns for care workers' rights

• Tip domestic workers and babysitters generously

• Hire women of color ethically—with contracts, benefits, and boundaries

• Vote for policies that support caregivers

• Share the care in your own home

• Question “productivity” culture and make rest radical

Dignity Is Not Optional

Every protest, policy, and feminist vision must ask:

Who is doing the caring?

Who is being cared for?

And who gets to rest?

Until care work is honored—not just expected—feminism still has work to do.

The future isn’t just female.

It’s cared for.