Sociology and Studies of Gender,Caregiving, and Inequality

This review focuses on scholarship that illuminates the ties between gendered care and persistent gender inequality. After an overview of work on gender and care across the disciplines, it examines sociologies of care and suggests how sociology might further enrich research and theory in this area. I explore the areas of work–family intersection, state care policy, and the organization of paid care work. I argue that the sociology of caregiving needs to better understand institutional effects on care and the interactions that transmit and resist them, organizational influences on paid care work, and how care policies relate to gender equality.