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On 30^thÌý´³³Ü±ô²â, Dr Amy Horton (Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê Geography) was interviewed about her research on care homes by (Goldsmiths, University of London). The discussion is available as aÌýÌýfrom the Political Economy Research Centre (PERC).

Care homes have been hit hard by the pandemic. The podcast discusses how the funding and organisation of social care may have contributed to some of these impacts. It draws on Dr Horton’s research, including a recent paper inÌýEnvironment and Planning: AÌý(2019):Ìý.

The paper investigates the ownership of UK care homes by investment funds, who have used high levels of debt to buy companies and sought to tap into their property assets. Such financialization, however, also depends on specific forms of labour: a low-status, mostly female, workforce. Although care workers are often treated as unskilled and disposable, in some ways they resist disposability and financial discipline.

The PERC discussion is now available as a podcast.

• It first considers the interacting trends that have affected social care in recent years - privatisation, austerity and financialization.
• It then examines the specific models of financial ownership being applied and the crucial role that labour plays in both enabling and limiting financialization in residential care.
• Finally, it addresses the principles for imagining an alternative future for care that recognises its social and relational value.

See