Gender equality, care work and sustainable development are intrinsically linked

Care work can also be referred to as the broad range of activities necessary for every day reproduction of human life, the environment and the economic system. Without everyday care work, life could not be sustained and reproduced. Without everyday care work, labour force could not be available to work and to produce economic value, essential for development. Not only does this work sustain the labor force, but it also absorbs the ‘invisible’ costs of poor infrastructure and service provision when governments do not provide them, which is further exacerbated by effects of climate change, ecological damage and extreme weather conditions. Care work may look different according to region and the resources available to fulfill it, but one thing is certain: it is crucial work not only to social well-being but also to the economy—the reproduction of a healthy, active labor force is dependent upon it.

It is commonly understood that households and families (men and women), markets, the state and the non-profit sector should share the responsibility for the prevalence of unpaid care work and other forms of unpaid work. However, in low income countries in particular, girls and women are responsible for a disproportionate amount of unpaid or underpaid care work. Women therefore have less time to engage in paid work, to network, to participate in activities for societal change, or even to rest. This “women’s time poverty” undermines well-being, generates insecurities, fosters financial dependence and limits options for decent work, even to the point of restricting women to low-status, part-time jobs in the informal sector. Girls often look after their younger siblings, ageing or sick relatives, or are sent to collect fuel and water instead of going to school. Mothers, sometimes the sole breadwinners in their families, frequently take jobs in the informal sector where they can bring their infants with them. Often these work environments are unsafe and may have ill-effects on the children’s health and overall development.

The unpaid care work carried out by women and girls often goes unnoticed and unrecognized in the calculations of a country’s economy. It is not included in labour force surveys or in GDP figures. As a result the realities of women’s and girls’ work burdens are excluded from the data informing policy making Households and families, markets, the state and civil society are all involved in the design, funding and delivery of care. These institutions interact in different ways in different countries, and although it is important to support context-specific solutions and take budgetary constraints into account the state does have an important role to play.

Care policies are separate and distinguishable from other policies such as health and education. They are, however directly connected to other policies, and in order to be implemented they must acknowledge that care goes both ways: it must be received and it must be given. According to reading series paper 3 of care economy suggested a model with three interconnected dimensions that seeks to address and incorporate unpaid care work into the development agenda: Recognition, Reduction, and Redistribution (the 3 Rs). The 3 Rs framework provides a way of finding practical entry points for addressing the unevenly shared unpaid care and unpaid work burden. They aim is to strengthen women as economic actors while acknowledging that an adequate level of care and other social reproduction activities are essential for the well-being of society and the sustainability of human development • R1: Redistribute care - • R2: Reduce the most precarious care arrangements: R3: Recognition of care: