Automation, Inequality, and the Future of Work

Abstract Automation is rapidly increasing the number of wealth workers—that is, workers providing labor-intensive personal services to affluent customers, such as domestic cleaners, childminders, nail technicians, personal trainers, and professional dog walkers. This chapter examines some of the normative dimensions of this phenomenon, exploring the nature of our reasons to worry about its increasing prevalence. The authors argue that two objections often raised to wealth work miss the mark. The