Doing business or leading care work? Intersections of gender, ethnicity and profession in home care entrepreneurship in Sweden

Helene Brodin and Elin Peterson

Gender, Work and Organization, 2019, vol. 26, issue 11, 1640-1657

Abstract: This article critically explores assumptions underpinning Swedish elder care policies that the introduction of market practices in publicly funded eldercare services advances women's entrepreneurship. We argue that gendered privileges and disadvantages are being recreated on tax‐funded home care markets; furthermore, gendered inequalities intersect with ethnicity and profession in the management of small‐scale care companies' dealings with authorities governing home care services and standards for home care work. However, we find that the salience of categories depends on the context in which they emerge. While gender and profession are dominant in management, gender and ethnicity influence interactions with authorities. Only in standards for home care work do all categories simultaneously shape the business approaches of care entrepreneurs. Our analysis, based on data on size and growth of home care companies and interviews with small‐scale care entrepreneurs, suggests that regulations and practices privilege big companies and care entrepreneurs who echo the white, masculine gendering of entrepreneurship as ‘doing business' and disadvantage small‐scale entrepreneurs focusing on leading care work to produce quality care.

Date: 2019
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