Ep. 28 | Care Economy: Reducing Unpaid Work and Inequality
Ep. 28 | Care Economy: Reducing Unpaid Work and Inequality
The value of unpaid care and domestic work has been estimated at around 11 trillion US dollars—roughly 9 per cent of the world’s gross domestic product (GDP)—while low-paid domestic workers make up more than 20 per cent of the global care workforce. Social protection mechanisms can play a major role in achieving a balance between increasing access to high-quality care and reducing gender inequalities resulting from unpaid care work.
This episode focuses on how social protection mechanisms, particularly social care services, can help ameliorate the inequities involved in care work, including access, recognition and remuneration.
Meet our guests:
- Silke Staab, Research Specialist at UN Women
- Adriana Paz Ramírez, Latin America Regional Coordinator for the International Domestic Workers Federation
Resources:
- Child Care Services and Women’s Work
- UN Women. 2023. Innovations in Childcare to Advance Women’s Economic Empowerment
- UN Women. 2022. Increase Women’s Economic Empowerment by Transforming the Care Economy. Economic Justice and Rights Action Coalition, Economic Empowerment Section of UN Women
For our Quick Wins segment, Ralf Radermacher, Head of the Social Protection Sector Initiative at GIZ, shared some key takeaways from the Global Forum on Adaptive Social Protection, a 3-day event that gathered policymakers, practitioners, and social protection experts to jointly examine and discuss the scope and potential of ASP to foster resilience and promote adaptation.
Quick Wins Resource