Care economy

The care economy encompasses care work — paid and unpaid, direct and indirect — delivered through the public and private sectors, including MSMEs, non-profit organizations, the social and solidarity economy, and households. It includes care providers and recipients, as well as the employers and institutions offering care services.

Care work involves activities and relationships that sustain quality of life, nurture human capabilities, foster agency, autonomy, and dignity, and develop the opportunities and resilience of both caregivers and care recipients. It meets a range of physical, psychological, cognitive, mental health, and developmental needs across all life stages — including for children, youth, adults, older persons, persons with disabilities, and caregivers.

Paid care work comprises diverse occupations and sectors. The care economy includes the activities of workers in education, early childhood care and education, the health and social sectors, domestic workers and individuals who perform unpaid care work. Unpaid care work, often provided by the family and by social networks of care recipients, is of great value for care recipients, care providers and society.

ILO Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy

The resolution provides a common understanding of the care economy, guiding principles and policy recommendations and reinforces ILO’s global leadership role in advancing the care agenda at the global, regional and national levels. It underscores the urgent need for action to ensure decent work within the care economy and to promote access to high-quality care and support for all. 

• ILO Resolution concerning decent work and the care economy
• Follow-up to the resolution concerning decent work and the care economy (Plan of action)

Conventions

• C102 - Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102)
• C149 - Nursing Personnel Convention, 1977 (No. 149)
• C156 - Workers with Family Responsibilities Convention, 1981 (No. 156)
• C183 - Maternity Protection Convention, 2000 (No. 183)
• C189 - Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189)