Cooperative Ownership as a Health Justice Intervention: A Promising Strategy to Advance Health Equity Through the U.S. Childcare System

J Law Med Ethics. 2022;50(4):738-744. doi: 10.1017/jme.2023.15.

Abstract

In their article "The Civil Rights of Health," Harris and Pamukcu offer a framework connecting civil rights law to unjust health disparities with the aims of creating broader awareness of subordination as a root cause of health inequities and inviting policymakers to create new legal tools for dismantling it. They close with a call to action. Here, we take up their call and propose cooperative enterprises as a health justice intervention. To illustrate this conceptualization, we focus on childcare as a system with robust connections to social, economic, and health equity for children, workers, and families.

Keywords: Childcare; Civil Rights of Health; Cooperative Ownership; Health Equity; Health Justice.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Child
  • Child Care
  • Civil Rights
  • Health Equity*
  • Humans
  • Ownership