Resources on Care Economy

  1. Podcast series: Global challenges – Global solutions

    Bringing gender equality to the core of employment recovery

    19 August 2020

    This podcast focusses attention on how the current crisis is different from previous crises in terms of its impact on women workers, and highlights some policy recommendations the ILO has to offer.

  2. ILO Policy brief

    A gender-responsive employment recovery: Building back fairer

    24 July 2020

    The COVID-19 crisis has laid bare the entrenched gender inequalities that plague labour markets. Building back fairer will only be possible by tackling these inequalities head on during the emergency and recovery phases.

  3. © ILO 2022

    COVID-19 and gender equality

    COVID-19: G7 nations need to get gender equality right for a better future for women at work

    14 May 2020

    Fighting deep-rooted gender inequality must be part of countries’ responses to the crisis, says high-level meeting on the role of women in the post-COVID future.

  4. UN Women – ILO Joint Programme

    Promoting decent employment for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in care

    04 May 2020

    The UN Women - ILO Joint Programme aims to promote decent work for women through inclusive growth policies and investments in the care economy. The Joint Programme stands ready to support governments and social partners in implementing gender-sensitive policy responses to the COVID-19 crisis and recovery phase. In these critical times, it is a demonstration of how the United Nations as One is working towards a gender-equitable future.

  5. © Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP 2022

    COVID-19: Protecting workers in the workplace

    Women health workers: Working relentlessly in hospitals and at home

    07 April 2020

    Women globally make up over 70 per cent of workers in health, including those working in care institutions. They are on the front line of the fight against COVID-19. As a result of the pandemic they are facing a double burden: longer shifts at work and additional care work at home.

  6. Publication

    The Employment Generation Impact of Meeting SDG Targets in Early Childhood Care, Education, Health and Long- Term Care in 45 Countries

    19 December 2019

  7. Publication

    The Unpaid Care Work and the Labour Market. An analysis of time use data based on the latest World Compilation of Time-use Surveys

    19 December 2019

  8. Report

    The impact of HIV on care work and the care workforce

    10 December 2019

    This publication provides an overview of the gaps and challenges in six sub-Saharan African countries (Liberia, Namibia, South Africa, Uganda, the United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia). By providing a picture of front-line prevention and treatment policies, this working paper assesses the socio-economic consequences of low antiretroviral therapy (ART) coverage as well as the key role of the health workforce in international testing and treatment targets (90-90-90). The impact of HIV on caregivers’ working status and their employment opportunities is also reviewed through an empirical analysis.

  9. Report

    The Social Construction of Migrant Care Work At the intersection of care, migration and gender

    04 March 2019

    This publication examines the implications of migration in the care economy and its effects on women’s economic empowerment and gender equality. It focuses on the working conditions of women and men migrants performing care work in destination countries; how migration in the care economy affects gender equality at work; and areas for policy action. The paper highlights the need for effective and coordinated policies to help improve the governance of labour migration for health-care workers, address decent work deficits of care workers for better recruitment and reten­tion and improve skills recognition and certification.

  10. ILO report key findings

    Decent Work in Portugal 2008-18: From crisis to recovery (PowerPoint Presentation)

    16 October 2018