The Continuum of Undervaluing in the Continuum of Care The concept of the care penalty underlines the pattern found across countries in which those performing paid carework – whether female or male – earn relatively less than those in non-caring fields. [...] In the rest of the country in 2009, the average ratio of direct care RNs to population was 785 to 100,000.3 The undervaluing of unpaid caring labour takes shape in at least two forms. [...] As mentioned above, the carework of mothers and other caregivers within the home is undervalued in that it is not seen as worthy of pay, nor is it considered to be necessary to include in the tabulation of Canada’s gross domestic product.4 The labour of hospital and other caring labour volunteers is undervalued in that it is unpaid despite the essential functions it serves. [...] The undervaluing of migrant live-in caregivers takes shape in the overlooking of skills applied daily to care for children, the elderly and people with disabilities within the home, as in the case of mothers. [...] Returning to the issue of unpaid overtime, regardless of the salary level or skill category of care workers, unpaid overtime is an undervaluing of carework identical to the undervaluing of unpaid care workers – all of whom fall within the continuum of undervaluing in the continuum of care in Canada.