What is work? Insights from the evolution of state foster care

Bibliographic Data

ID2373695
AuthorsDerek Kirton (University of Kent, corresponding author)
Year2013
Volume27
Issue4
Pages658-673
Publication date2013-08-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueWork Employment and Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0950-0170 • E-ISSN: 1469-8722
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0950017012460323
OpenAlexW2156613662
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited40

This article focuses on state foster care as a case study in the (re)configuration and negotiation of boundaries between work and non-work. Foster care can be seen as occupying a liminal position between the domains of 'work' and 'family', requiring management of the tensions presumed to exist between competing value systems. Through a review of research and policy developments, the relevant boundary issues are contextualized and explored, drawing examples from areas such as remuneration, taxation and benefits, employment status, work-life balance and the labour process. It is argued that while foster care shares the hybridity and ensuing tensions of care work more generally, the spatial and temporal integration of work and family and the high level of state regulation give them a particular intensity. In turn, this offers great potential for the study of work/non-work boundaries. Possible research avenues are set out

Boundary-work · Care work · Foster care · Liminality · Negotiation · Political science · Public relations · Remuneration · Social science · Sociology · State (computer science · Work (physics · Work–life balance · Computer Science · Digital Economy and Work Transformation · Engineering · Labor Movements and Unions · Law · Social Policy and Reform Studies

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