Christine Kelly, Department of Community Health Sciences University of Manitoba

“Cash for care” is an established policy model for supporting people with disabilities and older people to age at home while increasing choice and flexibility. In these programs, people receive funds to arrange their own care. There was (and is) a great deal of enthusiasm around this policy mechanism. It is championed by disability activists as a concrete way to enhance disability rights by enabling people to arrange their services around work, family, hobbies, and other commitments, often resulting in greater participation in civil and social spheres. Clients and families of all ages report a high degree of satisfaction with cash for care as compared to other modes of delivering home care– a finding that stands in multiple countries and contexts. Policy makers across the political spectrum are also enthusiastic as, in theory, cash for care should reduce the overhead costs of services.

Cash for care is indeed a promising health service intervention, yet, various scholars have long raised concerns about the risks of cash for care in neoliberal economies, especially to worker rights. These models impact the care workforce who are thrust into ever-more precarious forms of employment. Returning to the client side, despite high satisfaction, there are growing concerns about access as some studies find cash for care programs better serve men, people of higher socio- economic backgrounds, and people living in urban centres.

This panel seeks to showcase current research and analysis on cash for care and related programs from the around the world, aiming to highlight how the programs have evolved and shape the meaning and practices of disability and care worker rights in daily life.