Inequalities in childcare strategies among domestic workers and teachers in Argentina

The objective of this paper is to examine and analyse how care workers in Argentina organize the care of children under the age of 12. The paper explores and compares the strategies developed by educators and domestic employees, involved in two highly feminized occupations, where employment conditions and access to social rights and services differ significantly. The study is based on statistical information, gained from Argentina’s National Survey on Social Structure (Encuesta Nacional de Estructura Social, ENES-Pisac), representing both sectors. The article looks at the ways workers organize childcare within their own families and the inequalities that surface in the process. The paper looks at their household structures and practices; access to state, private, and community care; the hiring of care staff; and the role of families and family members in providing care. While examining the heterogeneous character of the category of care workers, the paper seeks to understand how social class affects both employment conditions and care strategies which in turn reproduce different forms of inequality.