Abstract
This chapter discusses economic inequalities between caregivers and other workers, the mechanisms that produce them, and the possibility of using anti-discrimination law to challenge them. I first examine the consequences of gendered family responsibilities, specifically motherhood, for occupational status and wages. Then I present common explanations for the economic consequences of caregiving, contrasting human capital theory with a structural perspective that investigates the organizational mechanisms—the concrete policies and practices and the unquestioned assumptions in workplaces—that help create these inequalities. I review the legal strategies proposed by feminist legal scholars and then draw on empirical studies of changes in organizational policies and practices in the wake of anti-discrimination law to discuss the likely effects of those strategies. I suggest that defining the economic marginalization of caregivers as discrimination would provide a new language and legitimacy for workers faced with work-family conflicts but the resulting organizational changes would not fully erase the inequalities documented here.
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© 2005 Springer
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Kelly, E.L. (2005). Discrimination against Caregivers? Gendered Family Responsibilities, Employer Practices, and Work Rewards. In: Nielsen, L.B., Nelson, R.L. (eds) Handbook of Employment Discrimination Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3455-5_18
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-3455-5_18
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-1-4020-3370-4
Online ISBN: 978-1-4020-3455-8
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