Rewarding Care Work

Almost three weeks with sick children and I have begun to wonder how it is possible to do this while working. Fully engaged in caring for my two daughters, I am thinking a lot about the foundations of the profession of architecture and how it could enable environments that embrace different versions of women's SELF: women as family members, mothers, professionals, individuals... How could the profession accommodate our professional, personal and family identities?

The profession of architecture has been built around many constraints on how to be. We have celebrated linear ways of being, often celebrating the end product, the design and execution of spaces rather than processes of spatial creation and community. We have been complicit in not questioning these linear ways of being. It all 'worked' until you had to do care work.

I wrote an Instagram post about care work and asked my community of women in a pool: "How do you think care work could or should be rewarded? Should it be rewarded financially? Should it be rewarded with care? Should it be rewarded differently? Or not at all? Usually care work is characterised as something that comes from the heart and soul, women have an 'inner calling to care', “feel obliged” to support their family members, elders or children. As a result, care work is often seen as a gift, when in fact it costs energy, time and money.

Now imagine if we could be rewarded for the passion, time, energy and money we put into care work.

Somewhere between administering the next dose of ibuprofen and making tea, as an architect I try to imagine a future where care work is recognised in the working environment and in the design of the city. A few scenarios come to mind.

Care work in the workplace

Women who are involved in care work outside of their professional responsibilities should be able to work fewer hours but be paid the same or more. They shouldn't be expected to work round the clock. The working environment should be designed to be adaptable and flexible to different identities. Care work should sometimes be compensated with care work. For example, this could take the form of day care at or near the workplace, organised meals, breaks throughout the day for exercise, yoga, meditation, designated spaces to work on presentations, projects or just to unwind from responsibilities. Women should be trusted and offered a variety of ways to be flexible.

Care work in urban design

Cities should be planned and designed with places that provide experiences and different activities for people who provide care. Caring can sometimes feel isolating, unappreciated, like it's too much. Being able to 'escape' into the city and experience different places where we can spend time outside of our caring role, or where we can practice both our identities as individuals and as parents, can strengthen our choices and act as a support system when we don't have one (living in a foreign country, no support from family or friends, single parenting, etc.). For example, cafes, reading rooms, mobile workstations, museums, galleries, sports activities, events where you can bring your children, can support women to combine their passions while caring for their families.

In order to accommodate different identities, to accommodate our identity as women doing care work, we need different kinds of spatial organisation and innovation spaces in the city and in the workplace that can support women to combine their passions, maintain work-life balance and continue to complement their authentic selves.

I would love to hear more from you on this topic.

How have you integrated your/other's caring work into your work environment?

What about implementing care work as a program in your architecture/urban design projects?