ABSTRACT
The major determinants of the decision to care are based on a range of factors, including a close kinship bond; the nature of the social mores operating on the potential carer; the wider politics of care; as well as the ability to cope. Geographical proximity and distance also plays a part in the form and extent of material care undertaken (Carmichael and Charles 2003). However, the decision to care may also be affected by the availability and cost of alternative sources of support; the financial means of the cared-for and/or the wider family; and the opportunity cost to the potential carer. Yet as already noted, successful ageing in place relies significantly on the availability and willingness of people to undertake this informal care. Ginn and Arber (1992) point out that any policy that seeks to promote familial responsibility for the care of disabled and older people is likely to have a disproportionate effect on women and the working class. As a consequence, the promotion of policies designed to reinforce familial responsibility are likely to compound existing inequalities in informal care. The chapter thus considers these factors in relation to gender and class inequalities in who cares. Whilst the focus is largely, but not exclusively, on the UK, many of the issues discussed will have resonance for other neo-liberalising states. Wider issues of national, international and cultural differences in who cares are discussed in Chapter 4.
