Sorting and matching processes on online care platforms

In light of major demographic changes, including population ageing, changing family structures, and women’s raising employment rates, paid domestic support services in private households are becoming more and more important. Services such as childcare, elderly care, and cleaning are increasingly offered via digital platforms, such as Care.com, Helpling, Sitly or kleinanzeigen, where service providers offer their work and households or families seek support. How do seekers select service providers? What strategies do service providers use to secure good job offers? To understand the selection processes in these online markets, the project team draws on sociological and socio-psychological theories. Methodologically, the project employs a wide range of approaches, from exploratory qualitative interviews to methods in computational social science and experimental techniques.