Author(s) :

Emily Shao.

Volume/Issue :

Abstract :

This perspective argues that the labor of mothering, both the physical demands of reproductive work and the invisible burden of emotional care, forms the unacknowledged foundation of economic and social life. Under neoliberalism, this labor is not simply forgotten but actively exploited, its value erased through narratives that frame care as love rather than work. The COVID-19 pandemic briefly exposed society’s reliance on unpaid and underpaid caregiving, yet no structural solutions emerged. Movements like the Global Women’s Strike and their Care Income Now campaign challenge this paradigm, demanding not only policy reforms but a radical redefinition of work itself; one that frames caregiving as a collective responsibility rather than a private expectation. Compensating mothering is not merely about economic justice but correcting a systemic distortion in how value is assigned. Evidence from policies like the expanded U.S. Child Tax Credit and Finland’s home care allowance demonstrates that investing in caregivers reduces poverty, boosts labor participation, and improves child well-being. Drawing on the insights of Silvia Federici and the Wages for Housework movement, this argument contends that unpaid reproductive labor sustains all other forms of work. Compensation is not the commodification of love but a refusal of its exploitative nature. Recognizing mothering as labor is both an act of economic justice and a demand for structural transformation.