Right to Care

In the debates about the right to care as a human right or about the justification of human rights on the basis of care, various dimensions are distinguished: a) the right to be cared for as the right to appropriate care and support, necessarily as a child and, if necessary, as a sick, disabled, or elderly person, b) the right (not) to care as the right to be able to provide care without being forced to do so, and c) the right to time to care as the right to have sufficient time to be able to provide care (cf. Knijn/Kremer 1997: 332 ff.; Addis 2003: 211 ff.). In addition, the fundamental right to care is further differentiated and a “basic list of caring rights” (Engster 2007: 169 f.) comprising ten rights has been drawn up. The debate about a right to care in all its dimensions shifts the perspective from the private organization of care and provision to a public entitlement.