Abstract
This study examines emotional labour within paid domestic reproductive labour in South Africa through an interdisciplinary health sciences framework, integrating perspectives from sociology, psychology, and public health. It focuses on how long-term caregiving relationships shape the emotional wellbeing and development of care-receivers in middle-to-upper-class dual-income households. Using purposive sampling, four Black young adults (ages 22–23) from diverse family structures were selected. Each participant maintained a continuous caregiving relationship with the same domestic worker for at least fifteen years. Guided by a Marxist Feminist social reproduction framework, the study explores emotional labour as both a social practice and a determinant of psychosocial wellbeing. Findings show that domestic workers’ emotional labour contributes significantly to care-receivers’ emotional regulation, sense of security, and moral development. Care extended beyond physical tasks to include emotional support, guidance, and household stability. These dynamics position emotional labour as an informal but critical component of household health systems, functioning alongside formal health and educational structures. At the same time, care-receivers acknowledged persistent power inequalities and the strategic dimensions of emotional caregiving. By locating emotional labour at the intersection of health sciences and social theory, this study highlights its dual role in supporting emotional wellbeing while reproducing structural inequality. The findings underscore the importance of recognising emotional labour as a key, though often invisible, determinant of health in South African households.
Presenters
Phathutshedzo MaboboStudent, MPhil Theories of Justice and Inequality, University of Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
The Physiology, Kinesiology and Psychology of Wellness in its Social Context
KEYWORDS
Emotional labour; Interdisciplinary health; Care-receivers; Domestic work; Social reproduction; Wellbeing
