Depletion, Intersectionality and the Limits of Social Policy: Child Carers in Mexico City

TY - JOUR

T1 - Depletion, Intersectionality and the Limits of Social Policy

T2 - Child Carers in Mexico City

AU - Grugel, Jean Bernadette

N1 - This is an author-produced version of the published paper. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher’s self-archiving policy. Further copying may not be permitted; contact the publisher for details.

PY - 2020/4/27

Y1 - 2020/4/27

N2 - This article makes a dual contribution. First, it adds a novel intersectional perspective to studies of depletion through social reproduction, examining the depletion experienced by children and adolescents caring for their younger siblings in Mexico City. We show how the depletion child carers experience is shaped by a combination of age, low income, other forms of work in and outside the home and gender, through the examples of three poor young people who provide everyday, regular care to siblings. Secondly, we explore the limitations of cash transfer welfare programmes by examining their failure to address the needs of children who provide care within the family and show how misperceptions by social policy makers of the experiences of young carers limit the capacity of social policies to make a difference to their wellbeing. The article underlines the importance of greater recognition of social reproductive work by poor children and adolescents and of the intersectional depletion they experience, both within social policy and in academic research.

AB - This article makes a dual contribution. First, it adds a novel intersectional perspective to studies of depletion through social reproduction, examining the depletion experienced by children and adolescents caring for their younger siblings in Mexico City. We show how the depletion child carers experience is shaped by a combination of age, low income, other forms of work in and outside the home and gender, through the examples of three poor young people who provide everyday, regular care to siblings. Secondly, we explore the limitations of cash transfer welfare programmes by examining their failure to address the needs of children who provide care within the family and show how misperceptions by social policy makers of the experiences of young carers limit the capacity of social policies to make a difference to their wellbeing. The article underlines the importance of greater recognition of social reproductive work by poor children and adolescents and of the intersectional depletion they experience, both within social policy and in academic research.

U2 - 10.1332/251510820X15858427067832

DO - 10.1332/251510820X15858427067832

M3 - Article

SN - 2515-1088

JO - European Journal of Politics and Gender

JF - European Journal of Politics and Gender

ER -