The Care Economy

Catalog description

'There are only four kinds of people in the world: Those who have been caregivers. Those who are currently caregivers. Those who will be caregivers, and those who will need a caregiver.' Former First lady Rosalynn Carter. We have a broken care system in the United States. Americans spend more than $648 billion annually on care, and it is expected to grow. There is a significant labor shortage of trained caregivers. In 2025, 63 million American adults provided ongoing care to adults or children with a medical condition or disability - representing almost one-quarter of all adults in the United States. The infant and childcare market is similarly unaffordable, fragmented, and broken. Every business leader today is confronting the complexities of a workforce of young parents, often challenged to find care for their children and/ or their parents and family members. These markets, often referred to as the Care Economy, are overlooked and ripe for reinvention with the potential for enormous social impact. This course will expose students to key insights about the Care Economy from five perspectives: as business leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, caregivers and policymakers. We will explore the spectrum of care needs from infants and children to older adults, and how other developed countries such as Singapore, Denmark, and Japan have created their care systems and addressed the needs of working families. During the course, students will meet many of the stakeholders, innovators and entrepreneurs working to build a better care system, including the CEO of a leading care navigation company, investors in the Care Economy, and key leaders and policy innovators spearheading public-private partnerships for care. The course will include cases, in class exercises such as debates and care innovation workshops, and lectures. Class topics will include the ROI and economics of care…