Devalued labour, COVID-19, and the problem of profitability: crises of seniors care in Shanghai, China and British Columbia, Canada

ABSTRACT

While differences exist in the organization of seniors care in Shanghai and British Columbia, both systems exhibit the simultaneous devaluation of, and reliance on, feminized labour. In this paper, we argue that COVID-19 highlighted underlying crisis tendencies built into the profit models in both increasingly privatized systems. The crisis of seniors care cannot be addressed without fundamental changes to the way care labour is valued, which in turn requires the true politicization of seniors care. This paper is part of the SPE Theme on the Political Economy of COVID-19.