what would it mean
if we started to care about care?
Behind our current caregiving crisis, in which a broken system has left parents and caregivers exhausted, sits a fierce addiction to independence. But what would happen if we started to appreciate dependency, and the deep meaning of one person caring for another? If we start to care about care?
Drawing on research into parenting and caregiving, as well as her own experiences as a mother, journalist Elissa Strauss delves into the history and power of care in our lives and communities. With a curiosity and desire to more fully understand one of humanity’s most profound and essential relationships, she interrogates our societal obsession with going it alone, and poses a challenge to let ourselves be transformed by the act of caregiving.
WHEN YOU CARE weaves historical anecdotes and science with conversations with parents and caregivers to the young, old, disabled, ill, and more, revealing a rich array of insights about how care shapes us on the inside and the outside, for the better. Care is a long-ignored force in our collective and political lives, as well as a deeply philosophical, spiritual and psychologically potent experience. More so, an embrace of care by both women and men will lead to a more gender equitable future, and help us reimagine what it means to be productive and live a meaningful life.
The result is an eye-opening exploration into the power of being depended on—and a stirring call to action to finally acknowledge the breadth, depth and beauty of all that caregivers do.
Where to buy •
Where to buy •
Featured Press & Media •
Featured Press & Media •
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glamour
What If Motherhood Was Considered as Ambitious as ‘Real’ Work?
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Slate
It’s Weird Times to Be a Happy Mother
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CNN
How to be a caregiver and get the support you need
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CNN
Why fatherhood is good for men
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Greater Good
Can Parenting Make You a Better Person?
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Early Learning Nation
Elliot’s Provocations: “When You Care” Illuminates the Philosophy of Caregiving
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The Atlantic
American Women Are at a Breaking Point
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CBS News Los Angeles
The joy of caregiving is explored in the new book "When You Care"
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Institute for Family Studies
5 Questions with Family Studies: Elissa Strauss on the “Wild and Transcendent” Magic of Motherhood
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The Nation
The Crisis in the Care Economy
New America
Featuring welcome remarks from New America CEO, Anne-Marie Slaughter, moderated by Katherine Goldstein, a journalist and Care Reporting Fellow for the Better Life Lab at New America and the director of The CareForce and in conversation with Sian-Pierre Regis, National Fellow, and a former journalist (CNN, MTV, HLN) turned documentary filmmaker.
The aspen Institute
In conversation with Josephine Kalipeni (Josie), Executive Director of Family Values at Work and Marjorie Sims, managing director of Ascend at the Aspen Institute.
Author event at Zibby’s Book
“When You Care is destined to be a modern classic. It presents a long overdue and urgent case for why embracing care is the key to unlocking our potential as a society. Strauss has made the invisible work of care visible and argues brilliantly for its value. A must read.”
Death, Sex & Money
“While there’s lots of conversations about time management for parents and caregivers or hot takes on the best way to do it all, I haven’t really come across a close look at how caregiving doesn’t just take from us, but also how it transforms us until I saw this new book by Elissa Strauss.””
Even more Praise for When You Care •
Even more Praise for When You Care •
“A deeply researched—and deeply felt—exploration of the beautiful truth about care: that we find, feed and know ourselves through our relationships. When You Care is a pleasure to read: bold, brave, and exquisitely written.”
Judith Warner, author of And Then They Stopped Talking to Me: Making Sense of Middle School and the New York Times-bestselling Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety
“Elissa Strauss has written an essential book. Although she writes it from the perspective of a mother, it’s not only for mothers but for all of humankind. A revolutionary, she doesn’t deliver her message in loud and hectoring tones, but instead in beautifully sensitive prose brimming with warmth and compassion. She’s not only showing us the way to the next stage of feminism but to humanism—the full recognition of what it means to take responsibility not only for our lives but also for one another.”