Public and private: Implications for care work.

A chapter from the book "A New Sociology of Work?" is presented. It discusses developments concerning female employees in the Canadian health care system, including women who perform tasks such as cooking, cleaning, and laundering. It discusses the impact of for-profit strategies in the health care industry upon women employed in such tasks and a shifting definition from health care workers to ancillary service workers. It also discusses the shifting understanding of private and public spheres in relation to households, social political issues such as abortion and birth control, and women in nursing in Canada.