The re-organization of care and working lives during the pandemic: Lived experiences of the COVID-19 policy context in the UK

In this paper, we propose that the reproduction of labor-power, achieved through the expropriation of women's work at home and in the community, is acutely relevant to the analysis of the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis. Capitalist structures of exploitation rely heavily on undervaluing women's and other marginalized peoples' work, specifically tasks related to social reproduction and care. In this paper, we assess the effects of COVID-19 remedial state policies on the re-organization of care and working lives during the pandemic within the UK, an example of a neoliberal regime with an individualist approach to responsibility for care. Drawing on data from the European H2020 project RESISTIRÉ (RESpondIng to outbreakS through co-creaTIve inclusive equality stRatEgies), we first assess the policies brought in by the UK government in response to the pandemic from a gender perspective, with a particular focus on the extent to which the work–care nexus has been considered. We then draw on the personal narratives of women in the UK, who were differentially affected by the pandemic, to analyze the lived experiences of this policy context and the challenges faced in “reconciling” paid work and care. These experiences demonstrate that any attempt to effectively respond to and reverse structural inequalities needs to address the dynamic interrelationship of paid and unpaid work, and particularly unpaid care work that women undertake at home and beyond. This is crucial in our attempt to challenge neoliberal capitalist organizing, transform societies and build a fairer, more inclusive post-pandemic future.