ABSTRACT
E ach of us has moments of dependency, moments when we relyon the kindness or generosity of others to provide for our mostbasic needs. Most often, our needs are met by our family members-the mother who tends to her child’s cut knee, the husband who massages his wife’s back during childbirth, the daughter who delivers lunch to her mother as she recovers from a hip replacement. For those with sufficient resources, many moments of dependency are handled via market-based services-the day-care provider who tends to a child’s cut knee, the mid-wife who massages the back of a laboring mother, the home care provider who delivers lunch to the client recovering from a hip replacement. But many citizens, particularly children, poor disabled adults, and a significant proportion of the frail elderly, lack the resources to draw on market-based services. They rely instead on their families. Sometimes, however, the dependency is simply too great for family members, who must also juggle paid work, care of other family members, and their own physical and mental health. Where do we, in our respective societies, want to locate the burden of this dependency?
