Nancy Folbre

A brilliant approach to the economics of caregiving and feminized work, from the MacArthur Award–winning economist“Important and illuminating . . . an outstandingly provocative book about the economics of care and reciprocity.” —Emma Rothschild, The New York Times Book ReviewLost in perpetually controversial conversations about “family values” is an examination of the economic forces that are exploding family life and limiting the caregiving that families can provide. As leading feminist economist Nancy Folbre notes, every society must confront the problem of balancing self-interested pursuits with care for others—including children, the elderly, and the infirm. Historically, most societies enjoyed an increased supply of care by maintaining strict limits on women’s freedom. But as these limits have happily and inevitably given way, there are many consequences for those who still need care. Using the image of “the invisible heart” to evoke the forces of compassion that must temper the forces of self-interest, Folbre argues in her classic book that if we don’t establish a new set of rules defining our mutual responsibilities for caregiving, the penalties suffered by the needy—our very families—will increase. Intensified economic competition may drive altruism and families out of business. The COVID-19 pandemic, too, has torn apart the tenuous, fragile web that makes care work possible in our society. Nancy Folbre writes in a lively, personal style and develops a distinctive approach to the economics of care. Unlike others who praise family values, Folbre acknowledges the complicated relationship between women and altruism. The Invisible Heart offers powerful feminist approaches to such policy issues as welfare reform, school finance, and progressive taxation, and it confronts the challenges of globalization, outlining strategies for developing an economic system that rewards both individual achievement and care for others.

A major new work of feminism on the history and persistence of patriarchal hierarchies from the MacArthur Award-winning economistIn this groundbreaking new work, Nancy Folbre builds on a critique and reformulation of Marxian political economy, drawing on a larger body of scientific research, including neoclassical economics, sociology, psychology, and evolutionary biology, to answer the defining question of feminist political economy: why is gender inequality so pervasive? In part, because of the contradictory effects of capitalist development: on the one hand, rapid technological change has improved living standards and increased the scope for individual choice for women; on the other, increased inequality and the weakening of families and communities have reconfigured gender inequalities, leaving caregivers particularly vulnerable.The Rise and Decline of Patriarchal Systems examines why care work is generally unrewarded in a market economy, calling attention to the non-market processes of childbearing, childrearing and the care of other dependents, the inheritance of assets, and the use of force and violence to appropriate both physical and human resources. Exploring intersecting inequalities based on class, gender, age, race/ethnicity, and citizenship, and their implications for political coalitions, it sets a new feminist agenda for the twenty-first century.

When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behavior? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others.This book brings women's work, their sexuality, and their ideas into the center of the dialectic between economic history and the history of economic ideas. It describes a spiralling process of economic and cultural change in Great Britain, France, and the United States since the 18th century that shaped the evolution of patriarchal capitalism and the larger relationship between production and reproduction. This feminist reinterpretation of our past holds profound implications for today's efforts to develop a more humane and sustainable form of capitalism.

Three paradoxes surround the division of the costs of social * Women have entered the paid labour force in growing numbers, but they continue to perform most of the unpaid labour of housework and childcare.* Birth rates have fallen but more and more mothers are supporting children on their own, with little or no assistance from fathers.* The growth of state spending is often blamed on malfunctioning markets, or runaway bureaucracies. But a large percentage of social spending provides substitutes for income transfers that once took place within families.Who Pays for the Kids? explains how this paradoxical situation has arisen. The costs of social reproduction are largely paid by men have remained extremely reluctant to pay their share of the costs of raising the next generation. Traditional theories - neo-classical, Marxist and Feminist - can only provide an incomplete account of this, and this book offers an alternative analysis, based on individual choices but within interlocking structures of constraint based on gender, age, sex, nation, race and class.

The War on the Poor counters attacks on the poor in the same lively, accessible style that made The New Field Guide to the U.S. Economy a cult classic. Using charts, graphs, and political cartoons, The War on the Poor presents topics including middle-class welfare, "family" values, child support, teen poverty, the minimum wage, the underclass, orphanages, health, hunger, corporate welfare, block grants, private charity, work requirements, and incentives. It includes a comprehensive resource list of addresses and phone numbers of activist groups, lobbying organizations, information sources, and media contacts.

Nancy Folbre challenges the conventional economist's assumption that parents have children for the same reason that they acquire pets--primarily for the pleasure of their company. Children become the workers and taxpayers of the next generation, and "investments" in them offer a significant payback to other participants in the economy. Yet parents, especially mothers, pay most of the costs. The high price of childrearing pushes many families into poverty, often with adverse consequences for children themselves. Parents spend time as well as money on children. Yet most estimates of the "cost" of children ignore the value of this time. Folbre provides a startlingly high but entirely credible estimate of the value of parental time per child by asking what it would cost to purchase a comparable substitute for it. She also emphasizes the need for better accounting of public expenditure on children over the life cycle and describes the need to rethink the very structure and logic of the welfare state. A new institutional structure could promote more cooperative, sustainable, and efficient commitments to the next generation.

Once upon a time, students who were willing and able to work hard could obtain an affordable, high-quality education at a public university. Those times are gone. Intensified admissions competition coupled with opposition to public spending has scorched every campus. Budget cuts, tuition hikes, and debt burdens are undermining the best path to upward mobility that this country ever built. But despite all of this, Americans still embrace ideals of equal opportunity and know that higher education represents a public good. Students, faculty, staff, and advocates are beginning to build political coalitions and develop new strategies to improve access, enhance quality, and simplify financial aid. This book celebrates and will fortify their efforts. In Saving State U, economist Nancy Folbre brings the national debates of education experts down to the level of trying to teach―and trying to learn―at major state universities whose budgets have repeatedly been slashed, restored, and then slashed again. Here is a brilliant firsthand account of the stakes involved, the politics, and the key debates raging through public campuses today. In a passionate, accessible voice, Folbre also offers a sobering vision of the many possible futures of public higher education and their links to the fate of our democracy while looking at the practical ways in which change is now possible.

Revised and expanded with the most up-to-the-minute data, The New Field Guide to the U.S. Economy brings key economic issues to life, reflecting the collective wit and wisdom of the more than forty progressive economists affiliated with the Center for Popular Economics. Complete with a glossary and analytical tool kit, the ten chapters range from "Banking Behemoths" to "Bye Bye Ozone," covering owners, workers, women, people of color, government spending, welfare, education, health, the environment, macroeconomics, and the global economy.

Looks at wealth, mergers, workers, women wage earners, minorities, farmers, government, spending, family income, poverty, energy, the business cycle, inflation, and budget deficits

xxx

A bold critique of conventional economics that reveals why the time and money we devote to care work is vital to our economic future. Our economy is much bigger than the dollar value of things we buy and sell. It depends on us—our health, our creativity, and our moral commitments. These capabilities don't have price tags but are crucial to a sustainable future. We need to acknowledge and reward the value of caring for ourselves and others, especially our children, our elderly, and those experiencing illness or disability. From leading feminist economist Nancy Folbre, Making Care Work provides a compelling historical and economic account of care provision in the United States. Folbre traces the long and colorful history of resistance to bogus claims that only paid work "counts" and that employees in care services are always paid what they deserve. Explaining why care providers remain economically vulnerable today, she argues that more attention to the public benefits of care provision could help build the political coalitions needed to implement policies that put people first. In this comprehensive and bold book, Folbre upends conventional economic thinking and maps a hopeful path toward a more equitable and sustainable economy.

Nancy Folbre s'intéresse à la part disproportionnée de travail non marchand que les femmes assument en même temps que leur travail rémunéré. Bien qu'il représente près de la moitié du travail accompli par les femmes et qu'il constitue la base de l'économie marchande, il n'est pas comptabilisé dans le PNB. Le travail de prise en charge des autres, des enfants et des personnes âgées notamment, n'est pas marchand mais affectif car il est lié à l'altruisme, à la réciprocité et à la responsabilité. Peu rémunéré, il est imposé aux femmes par le biais des normes sociales qui provoquent des discriminations. Faut-il que les femmes se masculinisent en n'accomplissant plus ce travail ? Doivent-elles se mettre à le marchander afin qu'il soit revalorisé ? Avec humour et amour, Nancy Folbre analyse les enjeux économiques des rapports de force sociaux entre les sexes et la structure du pouvoir économique.

When does the pursuit of self-interest go too far, lapsing into morally unacceptable behavior? Until the unprecedented events of the recent global financial crisis economists often seemed unconcerned with this question, even suggesting that "greed is good." A closer look, however, suggests that greed and lust are generally considered good only for men, and then only outside the realm of family life. The history of Western economic ideas shows that men have given themselves more cultural permission than women for the pursuit of both economic and sexual self-interest. Feminists have long contested the boundaries of this permission, demanding more than mere freedom to act more like men. Women have gradually gained the power to revise our conceptual and moral maps and to insist on a better-and less gendered-balance between self interest and care for others. This book brings women's work, their sexuality, and their ideas into the center of the dialectic between economic history and the history of economic ideas. It describes a spiralling process of economic and cultural change in Great Britain, France, and the United States since the 18th century that shaped the evolution of patriarchal capitalism and the larger relationship between production and reproduction. This feminist reinterpretation of our past holds profound implications for today's efforts to develop a more humane and sustainable form of capitalism.

An impressive gathering of the latest feminist economic scholarship and a revealing overview of the role of female labor in the global economy, this volume examines the economic contributions of women in both underdeveloped and advanced capitalist societies. The international contributors have organized their selections according to four gender and development; women in developed post-industrial countries; causes and consequences of part-time work; and education and family policy. The chapters span the globe, bringing together research data from the United States, England, the Philippines, Turkey, Pakistan, Japan, France, Sweden, and the former East Germany.The contributors to the book Tuovi Allen (Labour Institute for Economic Research, Finland), Guenseli Berik (New School for Social Research), Marga Bruyn-Hundt (University of Amsterdam, Holland), Niluefer Cagatay (Ramapo College), Mariam K. Chamberlain (National Council for Research on Women, New York), Marie-Gabrielle David (Centre d'Etude des Revenus et des Couts, France), Lynn Duggan (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), John F. Ermisch (National Institute of Economic and Social Research, England), Lynne Evans (University of Durham, England), Jean Fletcher (Gettysburg College), Maria S. Floro (American University), Sandy Gill (University of Massachusetts, Amherst), Jeanne Koopman (University of Bordeaux, France), Athena Petraki Kottis (Economic University of Athens, Greece), Yasmeen Mohiuddin (University of the South), Aiko Shibata (Tezukayama University, Japan), Christophe Starzec (Centre d'Etude des Revenus and des Couts, France), Marianne Sundstroem (Swedish Centre for Working Life), and Robert E.Wright (University of London, England).