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A ground-breaking rethink of caregiving in our society, by writer, activist and former policy advisor Emily Kenway.
Around the world, millions of people are quietly caring for long-term unwell, elderly or disabled loved ones; one-in-eight people in the UK and a sixth of the total US population, with comparable proportions across the globe. For many, this is a full-time job, saving our economies billions each year.
Yet when writer, activist and former policy advisor Emily Kenway found herself in the painful position of caring for her mother, she discovered that provision for people in her situation was, at best, hopelessly inadequate and, at worst, completely non-existent. This isn’t only in the form of paltry financial handouts for informal caregivers, but also a dearth of social, psychological, workplace and community structures to support people going through this experience.
Deftly blending memoir, polemic and deeply researched investigation, Who Cares lifts the lid on a subject society has never been willing to confront. Through Emily’s personal story, as well as the voices of other caregivers and those receiving care, unflinching investigations into the facts of care, and research from scientists at the forefront of potential solutions all over the world, this ground-breaking books asks vital questions about why we have a ‘crisis of care’, at both a global level and in the individual lives affected – and shows how we need to reorganise and reimagine the fundamental building blocks of our world to ensure caregiving is at its heart.
‘A visceral, unsparing picture of our current situation . . . I can’t recommend it highly enough’ ROB DELANEY
‘A radical vision for how we might do things better in future’ LADY BRENDA HALE
‘Heartbreaking, beautiful and necessary . . . and every page of it an act of love’ SARAH JAFFE
Praise for Emily Kenway’s first book, The Truth About Modern Slavery:
‘A powerful treatise’ Amelia Gentleman, Guardian
‘A must-read’ Frankie Boyle, comedian
‘Electrifyingly good’ Molly Smith, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights
(p) 2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Around the world, millions of people are quietly caring for long-term unwell, elderly or disabled loved ones; one-in-eight people in the UK and a sixth of the total US population, with comparable proportions across the globe. For many, this is a full-time job, saving our economies billions each year.
Yet when writer, activist and former policy advisor Emily Kenway found herself in the painful position of caring for her mother, she discovered that provision for people in her situation was, at best, hopelessly inadequate and, at worst, completely non-existent. This isn’t only in the form of paltry financial handouts for informal caregivers, but also a dearth of social, psychological, workplace and community structures to support people going through this experience.
Deftly blending memoir, polemic and deeply researched investigation, Who Cares lifts the lid on a subject society has never been willing to confront. Through Emily’s personal story, as well as the voices of other caregivers and those receiving care, unflinching investigations into the facts of care, and research from scientists at the forefront of potential solutions all over the world, this ground-breaking books asks vital questions about why we have a ‘crisis of care’, at both a global level and in the individual lives affected – and shows how we need to reorganise and reimagine the fundamental building blocks of our world to ensure caregiving is at its heart.
‘A visceral, unsparing picture of our current situation . . . I can’t recommend it highly enough’ ROB DELANEY
‘A radical vision for how we might do things better in future’ LADY BRENDA HALE
‘Heartbreaking, beautiful and necessary . . . and every page of it an act of love’ SARAH JAFFE
Praise for Emily Kenway’s first book, The Truth About Modern Slavery:
‘A powerful treatise’ Amelia Gentleman, Guardian
‘A must-read’ Frankie Boyle, comedian
‘Electrifyingly good’ Molly Smith, co-author of Revolting Prostitutes: The Fight for Sex Workers’ Rights
(p) 2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
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Reviews
A heartbreaking, beautiful and necessary read. Emily Kenway has written an eloquently vulnerable book that is part memoir and part polemic, and every page of it an act of love. Who Cares delves deep into the brutal realities of providing care in a world designed around the needs of capital, into Kenway's own story of caregiving for her fiercely independent mother as well as stories of caregivers from around the world, in order to show us how much our world would need to change in order to truly value and centre care.
This is a beautiful book. It's painful to read but extremely refreshing in its acknowledgement of facts as sure as gravity: we will age, get sick and die. It probably won't be pretty, and we'll need care ourselves and/or have to give care to those we love. And all the while capitalism will punish us for both needing and giving care. Emily Kenway's story of caring for her mother plus her exhaustive research into the subject of care at large results in a visceral, unsparing picture of our current situation. It also offers prescriptions and possibilities for the future. Her mother would be proud of the book and I am grateful for it. I can't recommend it highly enough.
Emily Kenway deftly blends heart-breaking personal stories with facts, figures and policy analysis to show why we cannot go on expecting so much of the family and friends of people who need care - which will mean all of us - and offers a radical vision of how we might do things better in future. The Secretary of State for Health and Social Care should be the first to read it.
The crisis of care affects us all, and Emily Kenway's astute, touching and insightful book gives us the power to tackle it head on with the fairness and compassion that is so desperately needed. Everyone needs to read this book.
Almost all of us will become carers at some point in our lives. In this important and deeply moving book Emily Kenway shares the story of caring for her mother, showing how we could seed the collective change we need - from new practices of kinning to shifts at work and within the state.
A powerful, enlightening journey through the world of caregiving, unique in its capacity to both show its cost for those, mostly women, who provide it, and imagine alternatives to the way it is presently organized. Inspired by a direct personal experience, as well as many testimonies and insightful historical research, the book denounces the social acceptance of the sacrifice of life millions of women are making to not abandon their kin when no longer self-sufficient or dying. Courageous in its detailed articulation of what caregiving actually entails, and the loss and suffering involved in this work, this is a book we all must read. For as Kenway convincingly argues, the crisis it reveals is something we will all experience, sooner or later in our lives
Who Cares is a vitally important book, but it's also a book full of heart, imagination and, yes, care. Deeply moving and rigorously unsentimental, Emily Kenway's book doesn't just report on the current dearth of support for caregivers but focuses on solutions and creative possibilities. Care should be at the heart of our society, and our politics, and Who Cares does a wonderful job showing us why.
Shines a valuable light on the often self-imposed invisibility of these lives ... a compassionate tribute to her mother, and an impassioned call to action. I defy anyone not to weep at their own future when reading this important book.
'A striking, honest and intimate page-turner... Shines a light on the invisible care that keeps the world turning, and the desperate need to value and recognise its contributions.'
A powerful, coherent and shocking account of the unfolding crisis . . . Emily Kenway's moving story and clear-sighted argument for change are a rallying cry we all should heed