The Greek word for care refers to a special emotional relationship, like the one that parents develop with their children. And not without reason, since the family is the most basic pillar of care in most countries of the world.
Behind each household’s door takes place the so-called “reproductive work”: the term includes the multitude of tasks that we have come to identify with “domestic labor”, which is primarily performed by women when they, for example, prepare food, wash, clean, tend to the space of a home to meet its daily functions, raise children, care for the sick and elderly family members, and maintain family and community ties. We usually perceive this work as something that women do “by nature” and not as a paid occupation, such as, for example, productive work. This universe of care leads to the gendered division of labor and remains undervalued and invisible, even though it reproduces our very lives on a daily basis and is therefore the foundation of any model of social organization.
In Greece in particular, the lack of public policy in relation to vulnerable populations has made care almost exclusively a family affair. We all have a personal story to share, and it is almost certain that at some point in our lives we will all need to become carers for a family member. The persistent underfunding or absence of public social welfare infrastructure and policies for vulnerable groups and for professional caregivers—in short, the outrageous lack of care for those who need care—leaves us no choice. The successive crises of the last decade have put unbearable pressure on households, especially the poorest ones, who bear responsibilities and roles that are not theirs. Who, after all, is left to take care of the collapse of the public health system, the privatization of childcare, and the material and psychological consequences of long-term unemployment? Mothers raising children without support, wives and daughters caring for the sick, elderly, and helpless parents and relatives inside home rooms: care work requires skills, energy, and time and is considered an “obligation” of the family and, more specifically, of its female members.