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The Care Economy

Care is the foundation of organic life. But its fate in the economy is precarious and uncertain. The labour of care is arduous and underpaid. Yet without it health and vitality are impossible. Care itself ends up leading a curious dual life. In our hearts it’s honoured as an irreducible good. But in the market it’s treated as a second class citizen – barely recognised in the relentless rush for productivity and wealth.

How did we arrive in this dysfunctional place? And what can we do to change things? What would it mean to take health seriously as a societal goal? What would it take to adopt care as an organising principle in the economy?

Tim Jackson sets out to tackle these questions in this timely and deeply personal book. His journey travels through the history of medicine, the economics of capitalism and the philosophical underpinnings of health. He unpacks the gender politics of care, revisits the birthplace of a universal dream and confronts the demons that prevent us from realising it.

Irreverent, insightful and profoundly inquisitive, The Care Economy offers a bold and accessible manifesto for a healthier and more humane society.

Content

Prologue :: 1 The Road to Hell :: 2 Euphoria :: 3 Vital Signs :: 4 The Myth of Care :: 5 No Good Deed :: 6 Passerelle :: 7 Shoot the Messenger :: 8 The Lost Generation :: 9 Care in the Time of Cholera :: 10 Pathogenesis :: 11 Death and the Maiden :: 12 Fuck the Patriarchy :: 13 Land’s End :: 14 Jenga :: 15 The Red Pill.

Links

  • The book will be published February 2025 and is available for pre-order on the usual platforms, including Polity Press, Hive and Amazon.
  • The German translation is already being prepared by Oekom and will be available from March 2025.

Reviews

»The Care Economy is a well-timed warning about the dire consequences of prioritising wealth over health and sacrificing happiness for growth. Jackson takes his reader on a fascinating journey, peppered with entertaining characters and colourful stories. But his message is deeply serious – as persuasive as it is challenging. A ›must read‹ for anyone who cares about the future. A book that could change the world.«
Dr Michael Dixon CVO, OBE, FRCP (hon), FRCGP
Chair of the College of Medicine

»The Care Economy is a profoundly insightful and personal book with a powerful message: A new economics guided by care for people and planet is urgently needed. I applaud Tim Jackson and this manifesto for a healthy and sustainable world.«
Riane Eisler, author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations

»The Care Economy rocks. Enjoy the rhythms of this compelling take-down of the dismal science and dance to the beat of new economic principles, joyfully explained. This music will stick in your head.«
Nancy Folbre, author of The Invisible Heart

»The absence of ›Care‹ as a primary purpose of economics limits the reach of policy.  Tim Jackson shows not only what is missed by this, how policy must stretch to be inclusive, but also what gives us a better economics as a discipline and what might be a better economy.«
Michael D Higgins, President of Ireland

»Why do we sacrifice health for wealth? Why are we so careless with care? From the staggering rise of chronic disease to the dark persistence of gender-based violence, Tim Jackson’s sharp, uncompromising examination of capitalism’s failings is also a passionate call to arms. A manifesto for The Care Economy.«
Stephanie Kelton, author of The Deficit Myth

»We are taken on a tour of everything that makes, breaks and takes care. Yes, care, this word that has been denuded so much in today’s thoughtless culture by soppiness, shallowness and exploitation. Tim Jackson cuts through much of the cant about care to show why a care-full society is the good society and how that requires infrastructure. With many personal details and his wondrous but lightly worn erudition, he shows that unless we restructure the economy and how we live to deliver deep care, society will be taken by brutal forces into ever starker divisions. I’d like all politicians to read this brilliant book.«
Tim Lang, Emeritus Professor of Food Policy, City & St Georges, University of London

»What is care, anyway? Care is Misery. Care is Cure. And therein, lies the rub and our salvation. Because care is half of homo sapiens, half of us. The justice ethic, and the care ethic; the male rubic, and the female rubric. It’s our burden and our legacy. Tim Jackson has plumbed the depths of economics, psychology, philosophy, and spirituality to confront us with that which we can’t ignore – we were born to care, and when we choose not to, we kill ourselves, our children, and our planet.«
Robert Lustig MD, MSL, author of The Hacking of the American Mind and Metabolical

»If you want to understand why it’s high time to reframe the whole concept of care (and you should) then start here.  Drawing insights from literature, politics, psychology, philosophy, biology, feminism, pop culture and more, every chapter of The Care Economy surprises, provokes and illuminates. Profoundly radical and ultimately practical, it is also that rare thing for a book from an economist – a clear and gripping read.«
Sue Pritchard, Chief Executive, Food, Farming and Countryside Commission

»If you ever doubted what truly matters in life, you need doubt no more. Prosperity, equity and harmony between people and planet are all about health, not wealth; about care, not growth. Tim Jackson takes us on a remarkable journey, exploring how to reshape the global economy, making his case with compassion, honesty and analytical force.«
Johan Rockström, Professor of Earth System Science and author of Breaking Boundaries (now a Netflix documentary)

»A forthright and original book. Jackson encourages his readers to think afresh about their own well-being – and that of humanity and the planet.«
Matthew Taylor, Chief Executive, NHS Confederation

»Is there such a thing as poetic economics? A postgrowth page-turner? Everyone who dreams of a better world should read this compelling account of how a care economy could replace our current capitalistic, growth-addicted system.«
Joan Tronto, author of The Caring Democracy and Who Cares?

»In this deeply personal book, Tim Jackson takes readers on a wonderful journey into the possibilities for an economy of care, offering a unique take on the potential for modern economic practices to be transformed into something more humane, universal and healthy for people and planet.«
Remco van de Pas, International Institute for Global Health, UN University

Further Links

Care is an anathema to capitalism. Its virtues are capitalism’s vices. Its employment-rich foundation for wellbeing is capitalism’s ‘productivity crisis’. Yet, without care we are nothing, our progress is nothing. Without care there is no economy.
Care is an anathema to capitalism. Its virtues are capitalism’s vices. Its employment-rich foundation for wellbeing is capitalism’s ‘productivity crisis’. Yet, without care we are nothing, our progress is nothing. Without care there is no economy.
Economy
Politics & Enterprise
Society
May 16, 2023
New analysis commissioned by FFCC has found that the costs of Britain’s unhealthy food system amount to £268 billion every year – almost equivalent to the total annual UK healthcare spend. The report by CUSP co-director Tim Jackson provides the first comprehensive estimate of the food-related cost of chronic disease, caused by the current food system.
New analysis commissioned by FFCC has found that the costs of Britain’s unhealthy food system amount to £268 billion every year – almost equivalent to the total annual UK healthcare spend. The report by CUSP co-director Tim Jackson provides the first comprehensive estimate of the food-related cost of chronic disease, caused by the current food system.
Economy
Food
Health
November 16, 2024
Capitalism is broken. The relentless pursuit of more has delivered climate catastrophe, social inequality and financial instability—and left us ill prepared for life in a global pandemic. Weaving together philosophical reflection, economic insight and social vision, Tim Jackson’s passionate and provocative book dares us to imagine a world beyond capitalism—a place where relationship and meaning take precedence over profits and power. Post Growth is both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.
Capitalism is broken. The relentless pursuit of more has delivered climate catastrophe, social inequality and financial instability—and left us ill prepared for life in a global pandemic. Weaving together philosophical reflection, economic insight and social vision, Tim Jackson’s passionate and provocative book dares us to imagine a world beyond capitalism—a place where relationship and meaning take precedence over profits and power. Post Growth is both a manifesto for system change and an invitation to rekindle a deeper conversation about the nature of the human condition.
Economy
Health
Nature of Prosperity
Philosophy
Society
March 25, 2021
The publication of Prosperity without Growth was a landmark in the sustainability debate. This substantially revised and re-written edition updates its arguments and considerably expands upon them. Tim Jackson demonstrates that building a ‘post-growth’ economy is not Utopia—it's a precise, definable and meaningful task. It’s about taking simple steps towards an economics fit for purpose.
The publication of Prosperity without Growth was a landmark in the sustainability debate. This substantially revised and re-written edition updates its arguments and considerably expands upon them. Tim Jackson demonstrates that building a ‘post-growth’ economy is not Utopia—it's a precise, definable and meaningful task. It’s about taking simple steps towards an economics fit for purpose.
Economy
Finance
Health
Nature of Prosperity
Philosophy
Politics & Enterprise
Society
System Dynamics
April 27, 2017