Demanding quality: Worker/consumer coalitions and “high road” strategies in the care sector
March 1, 2006
Politics & Society Vol. 34, No. 1
This article develops an economic analysis of the “care sector” — child care, health care, elder care, social work, and education. It argues that paid care services are vulnerable to competitive pressures, and quality of care, difficult to monitor, often suffers as a consequence. The report offers strategies to build coalitions for high-pay/high-quality alternatives, including emphasizing common interest between consumers and workers, promoting unionization, and publicizing and encouraging “best practices” management.
