There are many forms of paid and unpaid labour encompassed in health care systems, including home care for the elderly or disabled, community health services, and the care family members provide for loved ones. Valuing Care Work is an international comparative study that examines economic organizations as well as intimate settings to show how personal service work is shaped by broader welfare state developments.

To trace the relationships between gender, labour, and equity in health care, the essays in this volume analyse the rules and practices that shape care work. The contributors highlight how national configurations of the welfare state shape the gendering of paid and unpaid intimate labour in a range of settings and discuss how the policies and practices associated with neoliberalism have focussed on efficiency and accountability to the detriment of other policy agendas, including those that might further increase dignity and equity for both recipients and providers of paid and unpaid health care.

Cecilia Benoit is a professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Victoria.

Cecilia Benoit's profile page

Helga Hallgrimsdóttir is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Victoria.

Helga Hallgrimsdottir's profile page

Addressing a real gap in recent literature, Valuing Care Work meaningfully advances our understandings of women and the welfare state. This collection excels by exploring a diverse range of issues, from the opportunities and constraints of hospital volunteerism to the rarely seen glimpses of care recipient experiences and the uniqueness of Aboriginal care work. Each chapter is truly enjoyable and reflects the contributors' collective expertise and extensive knowledge of the care work field.

Vappu Tyyskä, Department of Sociology, Ryerson University