Unpaid Care Work: Everything You Need to Know

Jay OwenGlobal Citizen, Sustainability News, Latest Headlines

“Ethical Markets has covered the unpaid, caring, and sharing sectors of all societies for 40 years, since I published my “Creating Alternative Futures: The end of Economics “ (1978) and “The Politics of the Solar Age”, (1981,1988) and my CAKE diagram illustrating these “Love Economies“ .  We are happy to see that finally, economists are recognizing their former blindness to the value of these essential basic productive sectors, as much larger than the official GDP- money-measured market sectors!   (See free articles including “ Valuing Love Economies” at www.ethicalmarkets.com)

Hazel Henderson, Editor “

 

Mother carrying her baby on her back while working in tobacco fields in Malawi’s Kasungu region. | Marcel Crozet / ILO / Flickr

Meal prep and cooking. Collecting water. Caring for children. The amount of time spent on chores and caring for others might not always seem like a lot. But eventually, it adds up — especially for women and girls who live in poverty and are from marginalized groups.

This phenomenon is referred to as unpaid care work. Unrecognized and undervalued, this invisible labor becomes mothers’ and daughters’ responsibility. The percentage of men performing it is much lower than the percentage of women carrying out similar tasks.

Unpaid work is essential for households and economies to function, but it’s valued less than paid work. Unpaid care and domestic work make a substantial contribution to countries’ economies. The total value of unpaid care and domestic work is estimated to be between 10% and 39% of gross domestic product. It contributes more to the economy than sectors like manufacturing, commerce, or transportation.