A Capability Approach to Family Caregiving: Agency and Capabilities of Caregivers and Care Receivers

Family caregiving necessitates constant negotiations of needs, demands, and capabilities within the larger web of family ties that includes multiple members. During these negotiations, family members reassess their relationships with one another, and caregiving may become an unavoidable responsibility for some. Decision-making involves the entire care network, rather than simply the caregiver and care receiver, which can lead to disagreements. Under these conditions, existing power dynamics among family members may influence decision making about care arrangements. Family scholars have investigated these processes using various theoretical frameworks, focusing on intergenerational solidarity and conflict, filial piety, and gender relations. Capability approach to care, on the other hand, has concentrated on formal care arrangements for older people and questioned whether established mechanisms limit or strengthen care receivers' capabilities and agency. I propose that using a capability approach to family caregiving would be beneficial not only in terms of understanding the agency and autonomy of older people as care receivers, but also of caregivers. The power relations between caregivers and care receivers are built upon the power disparities in parent-adult child and sibling relationships. Who becomes the primary caregiver for the older parent is sometimes determined by necessity, undercutting the agency of the specific adult child and older parent’s care preferences. However, the new care arrangements may also result in new forms of power dynamics within the broader care network as well. Given the conditions, ensuring both parties’ capabilities without jeopardizing the autonomy of older parent in need is not an easy task to accomplish. It is critical to shift the discussion on care relationships to include not only functionings but also capabilities of everyone involved by prioritizing their agency in determining what capabilities they value and how power dynamics influence which of these capabilities are undermined for the benefit of others.