All human lives need the care of others. Yet economists and philosophers have long overlooked its contribution to human well-being, with it recently being turned into a consumer product. The time has now come to embed a care ethic into every aspect of life

Back in April, when I stood on our doorstep in Hackney, east London, and clapped for our carers along with our neighbours in a cacophony of drums, horns and fireworks, I almost had to pinch myself. For five years I had been researching the subject of care, and as I put the finishing touches to the manuscript, I called for a dramatic cultural reappraisal of this essential activity which lasts our entire lives, as recipient or giver. Now, suddenly, it seemed my dream had come true: care was centre stage in public life, everyone was talking about it and millions were celebrating the key workers and the healthcare staff keeping us safe.

But alongside the sense of solidarity and gratitude, an unsettling question nagged me: would this be a turning point in a long overdue national reckoning with the crisis of care, or was this another chapter in the persistent ­idealisation and romanticisation of care? Too often in the past, we have assumed care is the work of heroes, saints and angels. Its history is riddled with low pay and poor conditions, and the expectation that this particular form of work must subsidised by the human heart.