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The True Work of the 21st Century Will be Care Work
Automation will free us to care for one another — especially as we age. We should seize that chance.
For the last four years of her life, my grandmother lived in a state-funded care home.
This was back in the early 2000s. I was at university, and I’d visit her during the holidays. The home was a low-rise brick building on a quiet road. It was in the same ordinary town just outside London that my grandmother had lived in before we (mainly my mother) had become unable to look after her ourselves.
The staff was made up entirely of nurses who had recently arrived in the UK, mostly from Asia. They were good-humored, selfless, and dedicated to a job that involved helping other people’s elderly relatives use the bathroom.
They did their best with the place. And fought a daily battle against minimal resources. But everyone could see it wasn’t great.
I think about the nursing home every time I see news reports about aging populations.
We’re living through a time of profound demographic transition. Soon, the young and able-bodied will no longer outnumber the middle-aged and old.
