Grace, Marty (2006) A 21st Century Feminist Agenda for Valuing Care-Work. Journal of the Association for Research on Mothering, 8 (1 - 2). pp. 311-322. ISSN 1488-0989

Abstract

Feminism has a long history of fighting for economic independence for women. First-wave Australian feminists sought motherhood endowment on the basis of women's difference from men, but gained child endowment. Second wave feminists emphasised equality rather than difference, and made enormous gains in women's access to labour markets. However the goal of economic independence remains elusive, especially for women who become mothers. This article explores the links between contemporary concerns with valuing care-work, "balancing" work and family responsibilities, and economic independence for mothers. It discusses what would be distinctive about a third wave feminist agenda for change, taking account of our experiences of the gains of earlier changes, and the early twenty-first century socio-political context. A proposed third wave agenda would incorporate the unfinished business of second wave feminism including high quality accessible afordable childcare, gender equity and paid parental leave, as well as a system of payments to parents that would value care-work as well as facilitating and rewarding labour market earning. It would include equity between parents and non-parents as well as gender equity, and would respond to the diverse aspirations and desires of contemporary women.

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