There are a number of factors that contribute and create inequality to the ability and responsibility of care that caregivers’ face. This assignment paper will concentrate on the four main factors, namely; the historical background shaping family formation, gender patterns of provision of care, contemporary living arrangements and lastly state involvement in providing care. The historical background will look at Apartheid and how it has shaped families. With gender it will look at who is most likely to provide the care; mother or father. Contemporary living arrangements will look at the modern forms of living and the state involvement will look at where the government should come in when providing care and where it does come in when …show more content…

2012).
It is assumed that it is ‘normal’ for parents to provide for their kids, however the nuclear family is not the norm is South Africa, it is evident that many households do not consist of two parents plus children, and many children do not live with their biological parents (Budlender & Francie, 2011).
Mothers’ are also left with the double burden, as they have to provide care and have to go and work to financially support, a woman interviewed by E Moore, 2013, shows that the being the sole provider and carer puts strain on the mothers as they are more likely to be disciplinarian, as they are more focused on overseeing the children’s free time and schoolwork rather than on being a provider and carer (Moore E, 2013). The woman that was interviewed expressed a sense of tension to the role she played as a mother; “I didn’t do a good enough as a mother because after I got married she[her daughter] left college’” this shows that mothers who had to work and care blame themselves for the choices their children make (Moore, E, 2013).
Mothers also face the anxiety of how to mother well therefore causing them to send their children to stay with family members as the responsibility to care and work leads to guilt (Moore E, 2013) but