UWL professor takes part in parliamentary discussion on how to fix the UK’s crisis of care
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Helen Hester, Professor of Gender, Technology and Cultural Politics at UWL’s London School of Film, Media and Design, took part in a recent parliamentary discussion about how to fix the UK’s care crisis. Other speakers included Emily Kenway, the author of 'Who cares: the hidden crisis of care giving and how we solve it', and War on Want director Asad Rehman.
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The event was hosted by Labour MP for Nottingham East Nadia Whittome and supported by organisations including independent think tank Autonomy, poverty charity War on Want and campaigning group Open Democracy, which is running a series of events looking at care, in conjunction with the 75th birthday of the NHS.
Helen explained her participation:
I was invited to record a video for Open Democracy’s new care series off the back of my recent book. The series is produced by UWL doctoral researcher Freddie Stuart and looks at some of the causes of the crisis and where we might go from here. I also sit on Autonomy’s advisory board and lead their Feminist Futures programme, so it was really exciting to get the opportunity to collaborate on a project so closely related to my own interests.”
The current care crisis is set to escalate, Helen warns:
The crisis of care is huge and multifaceted, but I’m particularly thinking about it as a crisis of work (both waged and unwaged). Unwaged caring is frequently invisible, exhausting and unrelenting, and paying care jobs aren’t much better. They’re often insecure and characterised by forced flexibility, with around a quarter of the adult social care workforce on zero-hours contracts. So the crisis of care and the crisis of work are intertwined.”
Helen states that while we are used to policy making and political realism coming from our elected politicians, the current unwillingness to address these issues means that it is grass roots organisations like Autonomy that are doing the vital creative thinking and promoting discussion on the changes to come.
We’ve been looking at ideas like long term care centres – spaces that are distinct from both the home and the hospital but which can offer carers some rest and respite while housing the resources people need – things like technologies and training.
We’ve also been thinking about what the move towards a shorter working week might mean for different kinds of care. It’s not a silver bullet, but it could be a really progressive tool in a wider struggle around work and care, as we look to improve conditions for waged and unwaged carers alike.”
Helen says.
Helen’s new book, 'After Work: A History of the Home and the Fight for Free Time', written with Nick Srnicek, is published by Verso. It has been reviewed in both the Washington Post and The Guardian and was chosen as book of the week by The Sunday Times.
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