Female Poverty in the Context of Care Ethics

Care is a multi-pronged concept that expresses support for people who cannot fulfill their daily living activities owing to old age, illness, disability, or other conditions; this includes maintaining the social order. Social responsibility for the provision of care is seen as an obligation that must be met within the household rather than in public spaces. Given the gendered nature of power relationships within the household, the provision of care ultimately becomes the responsibility of women. Caring duties imposed on women with a traditional understanding impoverish women in many ways. Despite some policies being implemented to combat this type of poverty, women clearly still spend more time performing unpaid care work compared to men. This “feminine nature” in the care business has brought forth an understanding of ethical care. The ethics of care implies a moral importance in the core elements of human relationships and needs in giving and receiving care. Such ethics, which focus on maintaining the relationships between caregivers and care recipients by harmonizing the welfare of caregivers within the social network, comprise an approach that provides a new reading of human relations. The present investigation examines studies on the concepts of social care and care ethics and contributes to the conceptual and moral discussions on the nature of care, arguing that global care ethics should be built by considering care services beyond private or personal relationships and sexist approaches.