Suchergebnisse

The provision of personal care has become a critical problem for industrial countries. The care crisis particularly affects women as the main providers of care and the main receivers of care among the elderly. This paper looks at a model of cooperative care provided by the Fukushi Club, set up by the Seikatsu Club Consumers' Cooperative in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It asks whether the Fukushi Club is successful in its aims of empowering both care receiver and care provider; recognizing the 'shadow work' of women in the provision of care; and establishing a sustainable model of cooperative care.

For many, co‐operatives represent a challenge to existing systems of industrial relations and organisation structure. However, many of the co‐operatives which have been formed in recent years do not approximate to this vision, since they have not been set up from an ideological standpoint. Co‐operatives can be divided into three types: small business; participative; ideological. It is also important to evaluate their development against the reasons for their evolution. Indeed, the new co‐operatives are ideologically diverse, organisationally different, and a considerable way off being the job generators of the future.

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to highlight the multifaceted nature of financial exclusions, the range of potential needs that require addressing via financial inclusion policy and grounded initiatives, and emphasise that future "new models of affordable credit" must be framed by, and embedded in local communities.Design/methodology/approachDocumentation and analysis of an innovative participatory consultation that explored the perceptions and financial needs of a local population through use of participatory appraisal is used, one of a growing family of participatory approaches that is recognised as taking a "whole community approach" to conducting action research.FindingsProvides evidence of the range of services actually available to the "financially excluded" in a so‐called disadvantaged area, reasons for their use (or lack of), and the needs, wants, and/or desires to be fulfilled by any local "ideal" form of financial service provision.Research limitations/implicationsThe research suggests any financial inclusion solution must be sensitive and responsive to the varied circumstances and multifarious financial needs of local communities – one‐size‐fits‐all models of financial inclusion will have limited success due to the heterogeneous local manifestations of financial exclusions, the variety of perceived needs, and the variances of both of these over space and across social groups. More research is needed in other locations to explore geographical/social differences in such problems and needs.Originality/valueThis paper presents the findings of an innovative participatory consultation used to directly underpin and inform a local financial inclusion initiative.