Genderd Work Ethic of Informal Caregivers on Digital Platforms

The proportion of elderly individuals in need of care who are looked after at home is steadily increasing in Germany. In addition to relatives and professional care services—many of whom are already overburdened and often have limited time to address the medical aspects of care—outpatient informal caregivers are playing an increasingly significant role. These informal caregivers provide supplemental care, offering psychological and social support to help elderly individuals manage daily life in their own homes. Given the growing shortage of skilled workers in the care sector and the aging population, the importance of less formally trained outpatient caregivers and daily living assistance is expected to rise in the coming years.

In response to this shortage, online platforms with various business models have emerged to connect caregivers with individuals in need of care or their families. These platforms re-present a gig economy for care work. However, compared to other, more researched areas of the gig economy, care work as an interactive activity within private households presents unique challenges. As a result, findings from research on other gig economy sectors cannot simply be transferred to this area (Ecker et al., 2021). Prior research (e.g., Staab, 2014) has shown that in elderly care—a sub-sector of care work—workers often internalize a gendered work ethic characterized by caring and helpfulness, which can also lead to the exploitation of their own resources. However, this work ethos has not yet been studied specifically within the context of platform-mediated care.

Drawing on a qualitative survey of platform workers, this contribution explores how the work ethic, and the closely related processes of certification and qualification assessment, are shaped within the framework of the platform economy.