The care society, a horizon for a sustainable recovery with gender equality

Regional impact of gender inequality

In Latin America and the Caribbean, women spend more than twice as much time on unpaid care and domestic work as men. This distribution of roles is the product of the sexual division of labor, based on the reproduction of stereotypes that affect the lives of women and girls. As the counterpart of the distribution of care in the home, women have less time and opportunities to participate in the labor market, to get an education, to participate in politics and to exercise other rights under equal conditions.

These obstacles to women’s autonomy, that is, to their being able to have the capacity and concrete conditions to freely make decisions that affect their lives, deepened with the pandemic. Isolation and the transfer of education and care to the home environment produced for them an overload of care tasks that added to the massive loss of employment. While there was a recovery in 2021, it has been uneven and failed to close the gender gap: 1 in 2 women is still out of the labor force while for men the proportion is 1 in 4.

Countries that have measured the contribution of unpaid care and domestic work to the economy have found that would represent between 15.9% and 27.6% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). 70% of that contribution is made by women.

The unfair sexual distribution of work also places women as caregivers in paid services provided by the State or the market. In health, education and domestic work, the majority of workers are women. However, in health and education there are marked salary gaps with respect to what men who participate in the same sector receive. In the case of domestic workers, where around 10% of employed women are employed, wages are lower than in other sectors, and 73% work in the e without social security coverage.

the possible solution

The structural inequality that affects women and girls in the region needs to be reversed. It is urgent to move towards a style of development that leaves no one out. From ECLAC we make a call to move towards the caring society, a social organization that puts the sustainability of life at the center, that protects the planet and that guarantees the rights of those who require care, of those who care, and also considers self-care and inter-care. The care society counteracts the precariousness of care jobs and makes visible the multiplier effects of the care economy: not only produces more well-being, but also allows a transformative recovery with equality and sustainability.

From November 7 to 11, the governments of the region, together with civil society organizations, will meet in Argentina at the XV Regional Conference on Women in Latin America and the Caribbean. There we will talk and provide solutions to move towards “The care society as a horizon for a sustainable recovery with gender equality”. We hope you can join us.