Women - men - gender. - Bibliothek der Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung

situations are polarized and hierarchies are defi ned
by gender affi liation. These are based on the breadwinner
model of gendered biographies. The relative
poverty and fi nancial dependence created by
this is further perpetuated through nursing and
caring for relatives.
Private nursing and care is mainly provided by
women:
Women provide nursing and care more often
than men. The feeling of obligation towards
one’s family is stronger in a female partner, a
daughter or a daughter-in-law than in men, who
also nurse their partners.
Women give up working to care for relatives
more often than men. Men prefer to manage
care.
Women often take up part-time jobs so as to balance
work and nursing.
Due to the fact that the partner is older and his
life-expectancy is lower, the probability of women
being alone when they require nursing and
care and not having a partner to fall back on for
nursing is much higher than the other way
round.
The professions linked to providing care are typically
women’s professions. Therefore
they are subject to training regulations that are
not systematic,
they are dead-end professions without any
potential for upward mobility,
they are undervalued in terms of wages and salaries,
the tenure of employees at the job is very brief,
often they do not have a steady job,
they are often characterized by a high rate of
burn-out syndrom.
FRIEDRICH-EBERT-STIFTUNG
WOMEN MEN GENDER
In 2008, the FES Department for Gender and
Women’s Policy undertook a long-term project on
providing care to those requiring nursing. Initially
it dealt with the structure, scope and life situations
of care-givers and care-receivers. The study on
“ Gender in Care-Giving” undertaken by Dr. Gertrud
Backes of the “Centre for Aging and Society”
of the University of Vechta was discussed at a workshop
with trade unions, experts and politicians.
The third step will deal with the restructuring of
private nursing care. The ideal should be that everybody,
male and female, has the right to receiving
care. This means that there is a right to provide
care but equally to receive care. The exercise of this
right should not lead to poverty, nor should it
create an existential dependence on the partner.
There must be a right to receiving professional care
(as well as options for the type of professional care).
All rights must be realized irrespective of fi nancial
assets and sex. The political and economic consequences
of these positions will be put to a debate
at a future date.
39