noun: a company, organization, or individual acting as an intermediary between care workers and their clients.
Who is a Care Broker?
Traditional Care Agencies
A public agency or private organization that offers home health care services to individuals in out-of-hospital settings, such as private homes, boarding homes, hospices, shelters, and so on. Typically regulated and licensed by governments only if they meet certain criteria.
Online Care Platforms (like Care.com)
Care work platforms are digital infrastructures that enable care work service providers and individuals seeking care work services to interact. The platforms we studied advertise direct online access to care workers for childcare, housekeeping, eldercare, and other services.
Care Co-operatives
A co-op organization is a jointly or democratically owned business. In the care co-op whose members we interviewed, care workers and individuals receiving care participate together in decision-making activities.
Social Media Groups
We interviewed several members of online communities who utilize the group features available on social networking services or messenger applications to crowd-source content pertaining to employment and other opportunities. Usually moderated by one or more volunteers in the group.
Who can use this resource?
We designed this site as a tool for various stakeholders including:
parents, families and employers looking to hire a care worker using a broker
care workers looking to use a care broker to find jobs or gigs
researchers interested in the nexus of technology and care
policy makers
professionals in the care broker industry
web developers and designers of digital platforms
As we spoke to care workers, we noticed that their work was structured significantly by the app, company, or organization mediating their relationship with their client. We decided to call that mediating body "the care broker." We found similar impacts and effects that brokers had across our interviews. This was true even of brokers that claim to be more supportive or democratic, such as care co-operatives.
We think that it’s important to put brokers under the magnifying glass. The common knowledge about care workers and employers suggests that care workers primarily or exclusively use personal networks or agencies. Far less is known about different types of care brokers such as emerging care work platforms like Care.com, SitterCity, or online communities. Our goal is to understand how each type of care broker functions and, ultimately, to assess their strengths and weaknesses. We are also interested in the behaviors, motivations and best practices of care workers and employers who use various types of care brokers. To this end, we sought to include the voice of critical stakeholders: 15 care workers who used various types of brokers including traditional agencies, online care work platforms, co-operatives and online communities, with several who had used multiple types of brokers throughout their careers and some who currently use multiple types. Their experiences can be summarized in the Findings section below.
Findings
We decided to organize our findings into five major themes: onboarding, surveillance, hacking the broker, the digital and language divide, and positive experiences. You can swipe on each box, or interact with the arrows and dot controller around it, to view anonymized quotes from participants that relate to each theme.
Onboarding
During onboarding, care workers begin their relationship with a broker. This sometimes involves training, a formal hiring process, background checks, or registration on an app. We found that care workers may be rejected from a broker (by having their background check flagged, for example) during this phase. Workers reported (and we confirmed) that people who register for Care.com can have their account disabled unexpectedly, with no explanation. Once their work is mediated by a broker, care workers are still bound by its rules and expectations.
'When you work for an agency, you don't have to actually have a client, or working [with a] client right now to be considered an employee of the agency. Usually you have to have notified your regional supervisor of your availability. And if your availability doesn't fit any cases that are available, then you're, you know, they don't have anything for you until they get something.' [P7, agency worker]
there was something really small on my background check that they didn't like but I've passed all the — I've passed so many background checks and been very honest about my past. And like that one thing came up and they were like, “You lied to us. You are banned.” And I'm like, I didn't do anything super wrong. Like I didn't need, you know, get convicted or anything like that... I was checking my bank account and notice, like a payment from care.com. And I was like, oh, like I know that the families can pay through the platform. So that's probably what it looks like. So I like logged in trying to figure out what this payment came from is like this big like, pop up that said, like, you did not pass your background check. But I'd already been working for two different families for a month at this point, when they decided they didn't pass my background check, and told those two families that I had passed. So it took them a month to like, find this one small thing that I did. [P4, platform worker]
Technology and Surveillance
Care brokers use, and often encourage clients to use surveillance technologies. Generally, Care Brokers work to negate any liability involving the care relationships they facilitate. To this end, Brokers encourage clients to use cameras, implement background checks, and monitor their care worker’s social media accounts regularly. Furthermore, Care Brokers monitor messages between care workers and clients on platforms to support narratives about their services. Most care platforms implement algorithms that reduce the visibility of care worker profiles if care workers don’t respond to client messages within a given time frame, usually 24 hours. The use of technologies in this way not only enforces a care narrative solely constructed by the brokers, but also has real impacts on the quality of caring relationships and the well-being of care workers.
I kind of just look for like, sort of compatible styles. You know, how, like, autonomous, I'll be able to be like, I don't want to be like, micromanaged too much. I had one family that was like, you know, we expect her nanny to text us every 30 minutes with an update. And I was like, I can't do that...it got to the point where I was there for two months. And it was just like, nothing relented, you know, they've just still wanted the same, like, just constant updates, like constant like, like documentation of like, what we were doing and stuff... I just I feel like there's just not that much trust, I guess. And it also made my job a lot harder. [P2, platform worker]
I nannied for this one family in [US State], one summer and. And they had me on camera, like the whole time it felt like. And I, we I never— I was never sure if it was on or not. But it was in the living room. Like it wasn't at the door. It was in the living room. And so I didn't notice it until like, a weekend or something. Because I thought I saw it blink or I thought— I was like, is that thing on? And is that for me? Or for the kids? Or you know, and I feel I think I thought it was so awkward. And I just felt kind of powerless and didn't, didn't bring it up....but also like, I need some cash. So I'm just going to really watch myself in front of this camera, but I don't know if it's on or not. [P12, platform worker]
The other thing with Care is, it's so hard to get bad reviews taken down, which is totally understandable. But sometimes you will have a conversation with a person through the messaging app on Care, and then decide it's not for you. And they'll go and write a bad review about you even though you've never worked for them….Yeah, and then you can't get taken down. So then you have to delete your profile and start all over again. So I just wanted to avoid all of that at all costs. So I'm always super diligent about like tying up loose ends on Care and making sure like, no one's gonna go back and write a bad review about me, because that's, that's detrimental to a nanny, because this is all people have to go off of. [P5, platform worker]
"Hacking" the Broker
Care workers often find workarounds to common problems created by brokers. These “hacks” improve their chances of success in a system that seems set up for failure. Sometimes, this involves making daily, personal decisions about how they present themselves in the platform (such as appealing to beauty standards) to increase engagement with their online profiles. In other cases, hacks are collective and counter the daily reality of isolation that characterizes their work (especially on platforms). Care workers find answers to common problems, find jobs, vent, and share resources on social media — including template contracts for platform workers. Contracts are sometimes shared by prospective clients, but can also be initiated by care workers. Although they can be a source of protection, it is unclear how far those protections extend.
So because you not a have a contract, you know, like nothing, just only like oh “work to work.” But now with that group that- that I mentioned that we have, like, we have, like Hola Nannies community, we have another group, Babies Sitters Latinas, so we share our experience about it. And now, a lot of nannies, we ask for the contract, at least like, you know, with something, we have to write it down and sign it... I call them, it’s not a contract, it's an agreement. You know, like, okay, but before now, before it was like, I got the interview, I got the job. And sometimes they don't pay me when I'm sick. And I was shy to ask for that... I really like a scared, you know... maybe they quit me- like if I'm not a- if I asked for my sick days, or my vacations and yeah. So but now like, now I have an agreement with the people that when I had the job, like 'Okay, look, that's- this is what I want. And let's, let's write down everything we can sign it...' I know some nannies that don't do that. [P14, platform worker]
[Looking at her profile picture on a care work platform] I was thinking that I look happy... I looked pretty. I look approachable. I tend to be extremely, like uh, [pause] docile in interviews and like, I, I hate that I default to like, you know, “I'll do anything”. Like it would be my honor to do— to work with you, or for you or whatever. Um, I look really young in that photo. I mean, I was young, then, I should really if I like I was using this. I should have updated this probably.. Um.. Yeah, and I think that there's definitely, people… [pause] yeah. [pause] Yeah. I don't know. It's, it's gross that people are like scanning what people look like in choosing their, their nanny. … So, oh, [she highlights pieces of text from her profile as she explains] you can see I'm trying to put up close that I have a master's degree. To try to be like I'm, you know, acknowledging that our society might value me more if I have that, or whatever, even though if there's no jobs in my field at all. Um [chuckles] and I just tried to say I have a ton of childcare experience. I tried to give examples of like, all of the all the fun and different places I've worked, and like settings with kids to try to cast a wide net. [P12, platform worker]
The Digital (and Language) Divide
Every broker we studied puts up barriers to finding and keeping a job. Brokers also maintain racialized hierarchies in who gets to hire care workers, and who is doing the caring. We found that language and technical skills are bound up in these hierarchies. For example, some platforms are only available in English. The care co-operative, which claims to share power among care workers and clients, requires a lengthy interview process featuring creative writing in English. Reflecting the racialized history of care work, the workers we spoke to discussed how the majority of people seeking care on platforms like Care.com are white and fairly wealthy, since they can pay for the services they need out of pocket. Sadly, the same was true for the care co-operative. In one care worker’s experience, only state-funded agencies act as care brokers for poor and working class clients, and these featured the worst working conditions for carers.
To be honest, that the, the [co-op] recruitment process is quite like, like, having taken part in it, it was… one of the hardest recruitment processes I've been through. Because normally, when you work for companies, and they're so desperate for people that they make it really easy. So you know, they genuinely… the application form is pretty small and sparse. And they just invite you in and you talk to a couple of people and they give you the job on the spot. That's normally how it works. Whereas with [co-op], yet, you've got to do creative writing, really, you've got to be able to tell stories. You've got, you've got to be able to tell stories of previous experiences. And I suppose what they're looking for is people with similar values. So there's that. But, and then, when you go for interview, there's a panel of three which feels quite nerve wracking. But they do give you the questions beforehand, so you know what you're going to be asked, so you have a chance to rehearse it. [P11, care co-op worker]
So, for me, it was easy. Yeah, for me, it was easy, because I know how to use the computer. But some people that- I have a friend that they cannot- they don't know how to use it. Sometimes I have to help them to create a profile. It's easy, but for some people, they're not, you know, and yeah, it was easy. (Interviewer: 'What do they have challenges with?') That is because you have to send the resume. And some people, they don't know how to do the resume. So it's one of the challenges. And you have to even if you have more, like better presentation, like you know, like take a picture of your profile how they look. So and- some people just didn't know how to do that. So it's been a challenge for the people that they don't know how to do their resume, or how to use a computer, then. [P14, platform worker]
Positive Experiences with Brokers & Clients
Care co-operative workers reported several positive experiences at work, due to their ability to resolve conflicts through conversations aided by a facilitator/advocate, high rates of pay, and ability to participate and lead trainings. For platform workers, such stories were rare, but still possible. In these situations, across brokers, carers reported feeling that there was a trusting relationship with the client or family, as well as a sense of belonging, purpose, and appreciation.
It makes you feel a bit more important and a bit more like you've got a voice, whereas, you know, in the traditional agency I was with before, and I was going to quite a few calls where I was being abused, and I was being hit and my hair pulled and, you know, I was reporting all this, and it was a case of “there's nobody else”. So you go in. And many a time I've been in not very nice situations where I've come away, upset or dreading going the day after, and like almost like a safeguarding issue, and that would never happen here. Because I know I've got the voice and, and I'll be listened to and yeah, it's it's so different. It's unbelievable. [P10, care co-op worker]
And the family was I mean, it was it was also really challenging. Like one of them was experiencing a lot of just emotional, just challenges of being, you know, nine, but... and so we had a lot of fights. And it was like really dramatic a lot of the time but I don't know the family just had a really honest relationship. And we sort of navigated those issues together. And I was there every day. And they always had a pot of coffee ready like when I got there and, um, it was just, I don't know, I just felt like I was part of their family for a little while in a way that most other nannying jobs I have not really felt that way. [P12, platform worker]
So What Now?
The following are questions and resources curated to support the care work community.
Are you familiar with your responsibilities as an employer of a care worker?
If using a care broker, are you familiar with their practices and how they compare to other options?
Are you willing to pay a care worker paid time off? Gas and mileage?
Are you prepared to have a conversation with a care worker about their and your needs and expectations to create a positive experience?
For care workers...
Do you know your rights as a care worker i.e. minimum wage, paid time off, protection from retaliation, etc.?
Do you know about different options for care brokers in your area i.e. online communities, digital platforms, traditional care agencies?
For researchers and designers...
How might different systems of care distribution challenge the dominant culture?
Are you familiar with the history of care work in the United States?
How might care brokers (e.g. agencies and platforms) design technologies that prioritize healthy care worker-patient relationships? How might healthy care worker-broker relationships facilitate this?
Challenging the Dominant Culture
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And so, when we recruit people, or when people come in contact with ‘Co-op,’ I believe that the image that they see is... is an alternative to the mainstream, dominant culture. And I think what happens a lot of the time is that there’s no acknowledgement that the dominant culture is in everyone, whether they’re in a co-op, or in a traditional top-down hierarchy — because it’s internalized capitalism. [P09, co-op worker]
For this project, we conducted 60-90 minute semi-structured interviews with 15 care workers who had experience using digital platforms. Our goal was to learn how these apps could be better designed, prioritizing the needs of care workers. In other words, we are taking into consideration the point of view of care workers who use apps. This is significant not only because workers have direct experiences with digital platforms approaching a more accurate account or knowledge of the workplace, but also because taking this viewpoint is critical for understanding how to undermine the most exploitative aspects of care work and how we can envision alternatives.
More often than not, research and design is conducted with the aim of increasing profits for the care brokering company. In this case, the point of view of the company or perhaps at times the paying client is taken into consideration, while the workers’ viewpoint is neglected. When profit is the primary motive, exploitation is allowed to run rampant.
This is not always done intentionally, either. Designers and researchers may often wrongly assume that their design and their research is objective or politically-neutral, which is just another way to say that it is uncritical or supportive of the status quo. Designers may set out with the best of intentions, but without asking themselves “who is this design accountable to?” they run the risk of reproducing the material conditions of the dominant culture, as P10 put it, because of a failure to interrogate internalized capitalism.
At stake here is the question of what Mark Fisher has called “capitalist realism,” or the belief that capitalism is the only or best way to organize human social life. Which in turn has implications for how we believe social change is supposed to come about, the importance of workplace democracy and economic and social justice.
What we are really talking about here is alternatives to the dominant culture.
Magally "Maga" Miranda Alcázar (she/they) is a graduate student in Chicana/o and Central American Studies at UCLA. Using methods that emphasize the co-production of knowledge with rank-and-file workers, their research explores the contested meanings of care, work and Latinidad in the context of a globalized economy of care and information. Maga is also the co-founder of the multimedia platform SAL(T): Xicana Marxist Thoughts.
Freesoul El Shabazz-Thompson (he/him) is a designer, researcher, and artist exploring communal creation and control of technologies. He is focused on democratic design and the social role of design in developing artifacts and experiences that challenge unsustainable and inequitable practices and beliefs. He is currently a research associate in design and HCI with the CoALA Lab led by Dr. Ken Holstein at Carnegie Mellon University.
Alex Ahmed (she/her) is a postdoc at Carnegie Mellon University, affiliated with the Tech Solidarity Lab led by Dr. Sarah Fox. Her research applies a Marxist, worker-centered perspective on the “future of work,” participatory design, and the intersections between labor and technology. Her writing has been published in several academic venues, in addition to Pangyrus Literary Magazine and a forthcoming piece in Science for the People Magazine.
