Recommended reading: Antje Schrupp on the expansion of the care support allowance

Elfriede Harth from the Care Revolution Rhine/Main regional group drew our attention to an article by Antje Schrupp published in Die Zeit. Antje Schrupp herself is a regular contributor to the Care Revolution network; she writes and speaks on topics such as parenthood and unpaid work from a feminist perspective.

In her article "When in doubt, it's the daughters' turn", Antje Schrupp opposes the German government's plan to expand carer's allowance in a similar way to parental allowance. This would provide better support for some family carers than is currently the case. At the same time, however, only the closest relatives would receive this money. However, this would also impose the responsibility of caring on them even more than at present, regardless of whether they are able to do so and regardless of the relationship between the people concerned. The position that caring is a family task, in fact above all for women in the family, would be reinforced and caring would not be perceived as a social responsibility. In addition, according to the differences in wages as a basis for calculation, different levels of pay would be paid for the same work - or, in the case of retirement or unemployment, none at all. Antje Schrupp writes: "Whether a person in need of care is cared for should not depend on whether they have a family or have been able to build up a social network."

Instead, what is needed is firstly an expanded system of affordable professional care with a legal entitlement. Secondly, unpaid carers need to be supported and relieved, regardless of the degree of kinship. Thirdly, society as a whole must become a "caring society" in which networks of supportive care exist and are publicly supported.

You can find the really worthwhile article published by Zeit online here.