In a recent New York Times blog post, Nancy Folbre, an economics professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, argues for creating more jobs by providing increased federal support for home care services.

These are services, she suggests, that America’s families need and would support.

Folbre refers to two recent studies that support greater investment in home care services as a strategy improving the economy.

One of the papers, a policy brief by economists at the Levi Economics Institute of Bard College, argues that a federal investment of $50 billion into home and child care services would especially benefit low-income familieshurt by the recession.

The other paper is by the New America Foundation, a Washington D.C.-based think tank. They propose the introduction of a nationwide voucher system to help elderly consumers secure home care. By using their vouchers, elders would create more demand for home care services, and would enjoy the benefits of consumer direction.