Hidden platform subsidies: the role of social networks in concealing (too) low income on care work platforms

As digital labour mediation platforms became prominent in the late 2010s, they were soon associated with deteriorating labour conditions, especially for ride hailing, delivery and crowd work. Yet studies are more ambivalent about their effects on care work, i.e. domestic work and home care for children and seniors. As care work was already informal and highly precarious before, digital platforms held the promise of (partially) formalizing it. Contributing to this debate, we ask how workers make a living from platformized care work. We draw on 24 in-person interviews with workers who rely on income from providing domestic, nannying and senior care services mediated through digital platforms in Geneva. Our findings demonstrate that working via care work platforms is financially unsustainable. Our analysis highlights the omnipresence of what we call “platform subsidies”, i.e. financial support provided by family or friends to sustain workers' income. We argue that these payments subsidize platforms and customers who profit from care as a low-cost, on-demand service.