The care economy impacts all of us: our children, elderly loved

The wise and compassionate Jamaal Bowman once proclaimed: “The care economy impacts all of us: our children, elderly loved ones, family members with disabilities, child care workers, home health aides, nurses, and so many more. Care is something we all need, at different stages in our lives.” In these words lies not only the voice of a modern leader, but the echo of a truth as old as civilization itself—that care is the invisible thread that binds humanity together. Empires have risen and fallen, inventions have changed the course of history, but it is the act of one human tending to another that has sustained the world since its beginning.

In the ancient days, before machines or cities, the tribe survived not because of strength alone, but because of care. The mother who nursed the child, the healer who tended the wounded, the youth who carried the elder through the snow—these were the unseen heroes of every age. Bowman’s words remind us that this same sacred duty lives on in our modern world, though it often hides behind the titles of “nurse,” “teacher,” or “caregiver.” The care economy—though spoken in the language of policy—is in truth a continuation of this timeless covenant of compassion. It is the economy of love made visible, the structure that allows kindness to move through the machinery of society.

Think of the nurses of the Crimean War, led by Florence Nightingale, who defied disease and despair to bring light into the shadowed tents of the dying. They were not warriors, yet they fought a battle no less fierce—the battle against neglect, against the cold indifference that so often surrounds suffering. They proved that a nation’s greatness is not measured by its wealth or weapons, but by the tenderness it shows to its most vulnerable. And so, Bowman’s words ring true: the care economy is not merely an industry, but the living heart of civilization. Without it, the body of society withers.

In our own time, the world moves fast and speaks often of profit and growth, yet rarely of care. The labor of the caregiver, the teacher, the nurse—these are the hands that sustain life itself, yet they are often unseen, underpaid, undervalued. Bowman calls us to remember that we are all both givers and receivers of care. No one escapes this truth. The infant cradled in arms, the elder comforted in their final days, the worker who falls ill and is tended by another—all are bound in this sacred circle. The care economy is not someone else’s concern; it is the pulse that keeps humanity alive.

The ancients would have understood this deeply. In the temples of Egypt, the priests who tended the sick saw healing as divine service. In Greece, the goddess Hygieia—whose name gives us “hygiene”—was worshipped not for conquest, but for preservation. Even the warriors of Rome, proud and strong, honored those who treated their wounds. For every age has known that care is the quiet foundation upon which greatness rests. To forget this truth is to invite decay of both body and spirit.

Yet in forgetting, our world has strayed. We celebrate innovation but neglect compassion; we build towers of steel but ignore the homes where children cry for warmth. Bowman’s message is a call to return—to reweave care into the fabric of our daily lives. The care economy is not only hospitals and schools, but every moment when one person chooses empathy over indifference. It is the mother who works two jobs to feed her child, the teacher who stays late to guide a struggling student, the aide who holds a trembling hand in the night.

So let the lesson be this: value the caregivers among us, for they are the pillars that hold the world upright. Support them not with words alone, but with just wages, humane policies, and heartfelt respect. And in your own life, practice care as both duty and joy. Tend to your elders with patience, raise your children with gentleness, and treat strangers with compassion, for in doing so, you strengthen the very foundation of humanity.

In the end, Bowman’s wisdom reminds us that we are all part of the same cycle—today the caregiver, tomorrow the one in need. To honor care is to honor life itself. For while wealth may fade and power may crumble, the hand that comforts, the heart that listens, and the spirit that serves—these shall endure as the truest measure of what it means to be human.